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Jom   DOUGLAS  SEELYE 


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Copyright 

The  Woman's  Club  of  Glastonbury 

1928 


There    have    been    published    400    copies 
of  this  book. 


GLASTONBURY 

by 
Florence  Hollister  Curtis 


W 


Published  by 
The  Woman's  Club  of  Glastonbury 


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Foreword 


We  are  proud  of  our  ancestors  for  their  love  of  liberty 
which  has  made  this  a  free  country. 

We  are  proud  of  their  courage  which  led  them  to 
face  dangers  unafraid. 

We  are  proud  of  their  industry  which  turned  a  wilder- 
ness into  a  garden  spot. 

We  are  proud  of  the  founders  and  of  all  those  who 
"carried  on." 

We  realize  that  they  toiled  and  suffered  to  make  this 
town  the  beautiful  place  we  now  enjoy. 

Let  the  children  of  this  day  become  such  fine  men  and 
women,  that  if  those  ancestors  could  come  back, 
they  would  be  proud  of  us  as  their  descendants. 


Introduction 

Three  thousand  miles  away,  across  the  Atlantic,  in  the  south- 
western part  of  England,  is  the  town  for  which  ours  was  named. 
It  is  an  old  and  famous  town  —  was  old  and  famous  long  before 
Columbus  discovered  America. 

It  is  famous  because  there  was  built  the  first  Christian  church 
in  Britain.  Many  believe  that  it  was  built  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
who  came  from  Jerusalem  in  the  year  60  A.  D.  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  natives  of  Britain,  who  were  then  pagans. 

That  little  church  has  been  burned  and  rebuilt  more  than  once, 
but  its  ruins  stand  there  now.  Beside  the  little  church,  there  was 
built  a  larger  one,  and  a  great  monastery  or  abbey  in  which,  for 
many  years,  was  kept  a  famous  school  for  boys  and  young  men. 
St.  Patrick  of  Ireland  was  once  abbot  of  that  school,  for  in  those 
days  all  Christian  churches  were  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

It  is  believed  that  some  of  the  founders  of  our  town  came  from 
near  that  place,  and  hoped  that  their  new  town,  like  the  old, 
would  become  a  center  of  learning. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  Glastonbury  is  glistening  or  shining 
town.  For  a  long  time  it  was  spelled  Glastenbury,  but  in  1870  the 
town  voted  to  change  to  the  present  spelling. 

Before  we  come  to  the  history  of  our  town  of  Glastonbury, 
we  must  think  a  little  of  its  surroundings.  We  know  the  town  lies 
in  the  Connecticut  valley  because  we  see  its  streams  all  flowing 
towards  that  river.  The  name  Connecticut,  meaning  "long  river," 
was  given  by  the  Indians,  but  our  ancestors  called  it  "The  Great 
River."  It  begins  in  little  lakes  in  the  northern  part  of  New 
Hampshire  and  flows  along  the  western  border  of  that  state, 
crosses  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  reaches  Long  Island 
Sound  about  four  hundred  miles  from  its  starting  place.  It  is  the 
longest  river  in  New  England,  and  is  navigable  for  river  steamers 
as  far  as  Hartford. 

Each  spring  rains  and  melting  snows  cause  it  to  overflow  its 
banks  where  it  is  bordered  by  lowlands,  and  when  the  water  sub- 
sides, a  layer  of  fine  soil  is  left,  which  gives  these  lowlands  great 
fertility.  Its  current,  in  this  state,  is  not  very  swift,  and  for  this 
reason  its  course  is  crooked,  but  it  is  swift  enough  to  wear  away 
its  banks,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other. 

The  earth,  thus  carried  away,  is  dropped  in  shallow  water 
farther  down  the  river,  thus  causing  sand-banks,  and  a  bar  at 
its  mouth.  For  this  reason,  dredges,  or  mud-diggers,  must  dig  out 
this  soil  and  keep  a  channel  deep  enough  for  steamers  to  pass  in 
safety. 


State  and  County 

Our  town  is  only  one  of  a  group  of  twenty-nine  which  make  up 
the  county  of  Hartford,  and  this  county  is  one  of  a  group  of  eight 
which  make  the  state  of  Connecticut.  This  county  lies  wholly  in 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  about  one-third  of  it  east  of  the 
river,  and  the  other  two-thirds  west  of  it. 

Hartford  county  contains  two  large  cities,  Hartford  and  New 
Britain. 

The  city  of  Hartford  is  the  county  seat,  and  also  the  capital 
of  the  state.  It  contains  many  beautiful  buildings,  some  of  which 
are  the  Capitol,  where  the  Legislature  meets  and  the  laws  are 
made,  the  old  State  House,  and  the  State  Library. 


Glastonbury  Township 

Glastonbury  is  one  of  the  seven  towns,  of  the  county,  that  lie 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  It  was  at  first  nearly  rectangular  in 
shape,  but  in  1808  the  southeast  corner  was  set  off  to  form,  with 
parts  of  Hebron  and  Colchester,  the  small  new  town  of  Marlboro. 
Its  width  is  six  miles  from  north  to  south  and  about  eight  and 
one-half  miles  from  west  to  east. 

The  town  is  bounded  by  East  Hartford  and  Manchester  on 
the  north,  by  Bolton  and  Hebron  on  the  east,  by  Marlboro  on 
the  southeast,  by  Portland  on  the  south,  and  by  the  Connecticut 
river  and  the  towns  of  Wethersfield,  Rocky  Hill  and  Cromwell 
on  the  west.  Glastonbury  was  originally  part  of  Wethersfield  and 
the  early  history  of  Glastonbury  is  really  Wethersfield  history. 

The  two  important  streams  are  Roaring  Brook,  which  rises 
near  its  northeast  corner,  and  flows  southwest,  reaching  the  river 
at  Nayaug;  and  Salmon  Brook,  which  also  rises  in  the  northeast 
and  flows  west,  reaching  the  river  at  Naubuc, 


Surface 

Lying,  as  it  does,  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  this  town  has 
several  hundred  acres  of  very  fertile  meadow  land,  much  of  which 
is  in  the  northern  part.  East  of  these  low  meadows  is  higher  land 
largely  level  and  fertile,  but  in  some  parts  sandy.  South  of  Roar- 
ing Brook,  a  range  of  hills  extends  from  the  river  towards  the 
northeast.  Chestnut  Hill,  Mesomersic  and  Town  Woods  Hill  are 
part  of  this  range. 

These  hills,  though  not  high,  are  much  broken,  and  until  late 
years  were  mostly  covered  with  woods.  In  some  places  are  ledges 
of  feldspar  and  a  coarse  granite.  Nearly  all  of  the  southern  and 
eastern  part  is  very  uneven,  and  the  soil  less  fertile  than  that  near 
the  river. 


The  ledges  of  solid  rock  seem  to  be  a  part  of  the  earth's  stony 
skeleton,  while  the  loose  boulders  have  been  broken  off  and  shoved 
along  by  the  great  ice-sheet  that  once  moved  down  from  the 
north  over  all  New  England.  That  ice-sheet  also  heaped  up  the 
gravel  knolls,  and  scooped  out  the  "sink  holes"  seen  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  town. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  Roaring  Brook  valley  separates 
two  high  rough  hills,  known  by  their  Indian  names  of  Minnechaug 
and  Kongscut.  These  hills  are  in  Buckingham  and  the  Bucking- 
ham school  is  near  the  foot  of  the  first  one. 

About  a  mile  beyond  Kongscut  is  another  rocky  summit  said 
to  be  the  highest  point  in  the  town,  having  an  elevation  of  920 
feet  according  to  Government  Survey.  Nearby  is  a  small  lake 
called  Diamond  Pond,  from  the  small  red  crystals  found  on  its 
shores. 

There  are  four  reservoirs  in  the  town.  One,  east  of  Addison, 
belongs  to  the  East  Hartford  Water  Company  and  supplies  that 
town  and  a  part  of  Glastonbury  with  running  water.  Another 
is  east  of  Hopewell,  on  Cold  Brook,  and  is  connected  with  the 
first.  Another,  which  supplies  water  to  South  Glastonbury,  is  on 
Chestnut  Hill.  The  fourth,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  town, 
near  the  Bolton  line,  is  the  property  of  the  Cheney  Brothers 
Company,  of  Manchester. 

Appearance  of  the  Country 

Let  us  try  to  picture  to  ourselves  how  the  country  looked  when 
white  men  first  came  here,  a  wilderness  of  woods,  swamps  and 
tangled  underbrush.  Instead  of  broad  and  fruitful  farms,  here 
and  there  a  little  clearing,  where  squaws  dug  the  earth  with  hoes 
of  shell  or  stone,  and  cultivated  scanty  crops  of  corn  and  beans. 

Instead  of  busy  cities  and  villages,  here  and  there  a  cluster  of 
wigwams  near  the  edge  of  the  forest.  Instead  of  wide,  smooth 
streets,  a  few  narrow  and  crooked  paths  trodden  by  the  Indians' 
moccasined  feet.  No  craft  upon  the  river,  save  now  and  then  a 
solitary  fisher  in  his  log  canoe.  No  vehicles  of  any  kind,  and  no 
domestic  animals,  except  the  dog.  No  bridges,  no  busy  mills,  no 
fruitful  orchards,  and  no  homes. 

In  this  wilderness,  wild  animals  of  many  kinds  —  bear,  deer, 
wolves  and  smaller  animals.  In  the  rivers  and  lakes,  fish  in  abun- 
dance. 

Such  was  the  country  to  which  our  ancestors  came  nearly  three 
hundred  years  ago. 

Indians 

When  white  people  first  came  into  this  valley  there  were,  in 
the  town  of  Wethersfield,  several  small  tribes  of  Indians,  Pyquags 
and  Mattabasetts  west  of  the  river  and  on  the  east  side  Hocca- 


nums  in  the  north,  Nayaugs  along  Roaring  Brook  and  Wangunks 
farther  south.  Each  tribe  had  a  different  dialect,  but  could  under- 
stand the  others  by  the  help  of  signs. 

They  lived  usually  near  streams  and  lakes  for  two  reasons: 
much  of  their  food  came  from  the  water  and  they  could  travel 
more  easily  in  their  canoes  than  on  foot  through  the  woods.  They 
were  out-of-door  people,  but  sheltered  themselves  in  wigwams 
made  of  poles  covered  with  bark  and  the  skins  of  wild  animals. 
Their  clothing  was  of  skins  and  the  squaws  knew  how  to  make 
skin  moccasins  for  their  feet. 

They  hunted  wild  animals  with  spears,  clubs,  and  bow  and 
arrows.  They  caught  fish  with  a  hook  and  line,  or  in  rude  nets 
made  of  plant  fibers. 

The  canoes  used  by  the  Connecticut  Indians  were  not  the 
dainty  birch-bark  affairs  of  the  poetry  books,  but  were  made 
from  the  trunks  of  large  pine  or  tuHp  trees.  The  shaping  of  the 
log  into  canoe  form  was  done  by  burning  it  on  one  side,  then 
scraping  away  the  charred  wood;  then  again  burning  and  scrap- 
ing until  the  right  shape  was  attained.  It  was  a  long  and  slow 
work.  Their  war  canoes  were  sometimes  large  enough  to  carry 
twenty  men;  but  for  fishing,  smaller  ones  were  better. 

The  squaws  did  most  of  the  work,  cultivating  little  fields  of 
corn,  beans,  pumpkins  and  squashes.  They  gathered  wild  fruits, 
berries  and  nuts.  When  other  food  was  scarce,  they  ate  acorns, 
roots  and  even  the  bark  of  trees.  In  a  rude  way  they  made  sugar 
from  the  sap  of  maple  trees.  The  river  Indians  were  friendly  and 
taught  the  whites  many  things  about  the  way  to  live  in  the 
wilderness.  Had  they  been  hostile,  it  is  doubtful  if  our  ancestors 
could  have  lived  through  the  first  two  hard  winters. 

The  sheltered  valley,  where  the  village  of  South  Glastonbury 
now  stands,  was  an  Indian  resort,  and  Red  Hill  was  a  favorite 
camping  ground.  Their  arrow  heads  and  other  stone  implements 
have  been  found  there,  and  not  many  years  ago  the  ashes  of  their 
camp-fires  could  be  seen  when  the  farmer's  plow  turned  over  the 
sod. 

Other  Indians  on  the  east  and  west  were  not  so  friendly.  The 
Pequots,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  state,  gave  the  whites 
much  trouble,  and  finally  a  war  broke  out,  which  resulted  in  the 
destruction  of  that  tribe.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  not  all  white 
men  were  just  to  the  Indians. 

Laws  were  made  forbidding  the  sale  of  guns  to  Indians,  but 
they  were  eager  to  get  them,  and  unscrupulous  white  men  were 
willing  to  sell  when  they  could  profit  by  it.  This  was  the  cause 
of  much  trouble. 

After  the  white  settlers  became  numerous,  the  Indians  did  not 
thrive.  Game  became  scarce  and  they  could  not  adopt  the  white 
man's  way  of  living.  They  could  no  longer  call  themselves  lords 
of  the  soil,  and  their  spirit  was  broken. 


Some  became  idle  and  shiftless,  and  annoyed  the  white  women 
by  hanging  around  the  settlement  and  begging  for  cider.  It  is 
more  than  likely  that  their  love  for  the  white  men's  fire  water, 
as  rum  was  called,  hastened  their  end. 

In  1765,  there  were  only  about  forty  in  the  town,  most  of  them 
at  Wongunk,  where  they  had  a  reservation  of  three  hundred  acres. 

The  last  of  the  tribe,  Mary  Cushoy,  sometimes  called  Tike, 
died  about  1774. 

Many  arrow-heads,  stone  axes  and  other  stone  tools  have  been 
found  along  the  river  banks  and  are  now  to  be  seen  in  museums. 
But  besides  these  relics  of  the  race,  the  names  they  gave  to  many 
places  have  been  kept  by  our  people.  Some  of  these  follow,  with 
their  meaning,  as  near  as  we  know: 

Connecticut  The  Long  River 

Hoccanum  Fishing  place 

Naubuc  The  plains  on  the  east  side 

Nayaug  Noisy  water 

Nipsic  Place  of  water 

(there  was  once  a  small  lake  there,  which  has  since  been  drained) 

Minnechaug  Berry  land 
Kongscut  or 

Honksit  Goose  country 

Mesomersic  Great  rattlesnake  country 

Wassuc  Place  of  paint  or  between  brooks 

Wangunk  Bend  or  corner 

History  of  Glastonbury 

To  understand  the  history  of  Glastonbury  we  must  go  back  to 
the  beginning  of  Wethersfield,  in  the  year  1633.  You  will  remem- 
ber that  at  that  time  there  were  many  white  settlements  along 
the  New  England  coast,  from  Plymouth  north  to  Maine. 

The  Dutch  also  had  a  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson 
river  and  had  sailed  up  the  Connecticut,  hoping  to  occupy  that 
valley.  They  had  even  started  a  trading  post  at  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Hartford. 

The  leaders  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  were  very  strict  Puri- 
tans. Only  church  members  could  become  freemen  and  have  a 
voice  in  the  government.  This  was  not  agreeable  to  some  ot  the 
settlers  who  wanted  a  more  liberal  rule.  They  had  heard  from  the 
Indians  glowing  accounts  of  a  fertile  valley  to  the  west,  which 
they  called  Connecticut.  An  Indian  chief  had  visited  Plymouth 
and  Boston,  and  invited  their  governors  to  send  white  people  to 
settle  among  them,  promising  to  give  them  beaver  and  hemp. 
These  Indians  wanted  to  trade  their  furs  for  the  white  men's 
goods,  and  also  hoped  for  their  help  against  other  Indian  tribes. 

In  the  fall  of  1633,  John  Oldham  and  two  companions  left 
Watertown,  Massachusetts,  and  came  by  land  to  explore  the 
Connecticut  valley.  They  reached  a  place  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  river,  called  Pyquag,  meaning  "cleared  land."  The  Indians 


living  there  were  called  by  the  same  name.  Some  writers  claim 
that  Oldham  and  his  companions  sowed  a  field  of  grain,  either 
rye  or  wheat.  If  so,  they  may  be  called  the  first  settlers,  and 
Wethersfield  may  rightly  claim  to  be  the  oldest  town  in  the  state. 
Then  these  three  brave  men  tramped  back  to  Watertown,  carry- 
ing the  hemp  given  them  by  the  Indians. 

The  next  spring  they  came  again,  and  with  them  came  five  or 
six  famiHes  who  at  once  proceeded  to  build  cabins  and  to  clear 
more  land.  During  the  same  summer  a  few  settlers  came  to  Hart- 
ford and  Windsor,  and  the  three  towns  were  started. 

The  next  summer  more  settlers  came  from  Watertown  and  gave 
that  name  to  their  new  settlement.  But  a  hard  winter  was  before 
them.  Their  goods,  sent  by  water,  had  not  arrived,  their  little 
ships  having  either  been  wrecked  or  driven  back  by  storms.  The 
cold  was  so  intense  that  by  the  middle  of  November  the  river 
was  frozen  over,  and  by  the  first  of  December  food  was  becoming 
scarce.  They  bought  of  the  Indians  all  those  poor  sons  of  the 
forest  could  spare  from  their  scanty  stores.  The  snow  was  deep, 
but  the  stronger  men  hunted  and  trapped  wild  animals  to  help 
keep  starvation  from  their  door.  They  dug  down  through  the 
snow  for  acorns  and  ground  nuts  hidden  in  the  frozen  ground. 

Some  started  down  the  river,  hoping  to  meet  the  ships  which 
they  expected.  One  was  found  frozen  in  the  ice.  They  went  on 
board,  and,  fortunately,  a  warm  rain  loosened  the  ice  and  they 
were  able  to  sail  the  vessel  back  to  Massachusetts  bay. 

Driven  almost  to  despair,  twelve  other  men  started  to  wade 
through  the  deep  snow  back  to  the  Massachusetts  settlements, 
in  order  that  there  might  be  more  food  for  those  who  stayed. 
One  of  these  fell  through  the  ice  and  was  drowned,  but  the  others, 
by  the  help  of  friendly  Indians,  were  able  to  reach  white  settle- 
ments. This  winter  was  a  starving  time,  as  bad  as  that  of  the 
Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  There  by  the  sea  shore  the  people  could 
always  find  clams  when  the  tide  left  the  mud  flats  bare,  but  there 
were  no  clams  for  our  forefathers  in  that  winter.  The  settlers  had 
brought  with  them  a  few  cattle,  but  the  poor  creatures  were 
suffering  and  dying  from  cold  and  hunger.  Those  which  survived, 
both  men  and  animals,  were  near  to  starvation  when  the  terrible 
winter  was  over.  At  last,  when  the  sun  shone  out  and  the  April 
winds  melted  the  snow,  new  courage  came  to  the  hearts  of  the 
weary  sufferers. 

With  the  return  of  mild  weather,  those  who  had  fled  to  Massa- 
chusetts came  back,  bringing  with  them  other  families  to  make 
their  homes  in  the  fertile  valley.  This,  the  summer  of  1636,  was 
an  eventful  one  for  the  three  River  towns.  Hooker  and  his  party 
of  one  hundred  came  through  the  wilderness  from  Newtown  to 
Hartford.  Others  came  to  Windsor,  at  first  called  Dorchester, 
after  the  town  they  had  left. 

Some  time  during  the  next  year,  the  principal  men  of  the 
three  towns  met  at  Hartford  and  planned  a  form  of  government. 


They  chose  some  officers  and  adopted  the  present  names  for  the 
towns. 

The  men  of  Wethersfield  also  bought  from  the  Indian  chief, 
Sowheag  or  Sequin,  a  large  tract  of  land,  extending  six  miles  west 
of  the  river,  three  miles  east,  and  six  miles  from  north  to  south. 
We  do  not  know  how  much  was  paid  for  the  land,  but,  it  is  said, 
as  much  as  would  satisfy  the  chief.  This  payment  was  probably 
not  in  money  but  in  cloth,  iron  pots,  and  things  the  Indians 
wanted.  Some  tracts  of  land  were  reserved  for  their  use,  and  they 
had,  of  course,  the  privilege  of  hunting  and  fishing  as  before. 

We  can  but  feel  sorry  for  those  poor  ignorant  red  men,  when 
we  think  that  they  sold  their  native  forests  and  little  clearings 
for  such  trifling  rewards.  When  it  was  too  late,  they  saw  their 
mistake  and  felt  that  the  white  men  had  wronged  them.  The 
river  Indians  were  friendly,  but  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
state  was  the  tribe  of  Pequots  which  was  often  at  war  with  other 
tribes,  and  had  killed  two  white  men  down  the  river. 

In  the  spring  of  1637  the  settlers  were  at  work  in  the  meadows 
when  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  large  band  of  these 
Indians,  who  had  come  quietly  up  the  river  by  night  in  their 
log  canoes.  Eight  of  the  settlers  were  killed,  six  men  and  two 
women,  also  some  cows  and  two  horses.  When  they  went  away, 
they  carried  with  them  to  New  London  two  girls,  daughters  of 
William  Swayne.  These  girls  were  kindly  cared  for  by  the  wife 
of  a  chief,  and  some  weeks  later  were  rescued  by  the  captain  of  a 
Dutch  ship  and  brought  to  Saybrook,  where  the  English  from 
Massachusetts  had  built  a  fort.  Captain  Gardiner  of  the  fort 
paid  the  Dutch  for  their  trouble,  and  later  sent  the  girls  up  the 
river  to  their  home. 

*The  same  year  John  Oldham  was  murdered,  while  on  a  trading 
voyage  along  Lond  Island  Sound.  These  outrages  caused  the 
settlers  to  decide  on  war  against  the  Pequots.  The  story  of  this 
war,  in  which  men  from  the  three  towns  took  part,  can  not  be 
told  here,  but  it  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  Pequots  as  a 
tribe.  Those  who  were  not  killed  were  either  made  slaves  or 
scattered  among  other  tribes. 


*In  1636  John  Oldham  went  in  his  "pinnace"  on  a  trading  voyage  with  the 
Pequots  along  the  Sound,  having  for  his  crew  two  white  boys  and  two  friendly 
Indians.  When  sailing  near  Block  Island  his  little  ship  was  surrounded  by 
Pequot  Indians  in  canoes.  They  swarmed  on  board,  killed  the  captain  and 
were  loading  his  goods  into  their  canoes,  when  Captain  Gallup  in  his  shallop 
came  sailing  past.  He  knew  Oldham's  boat  and  seeing  many  Indians  on  board 
knew  there  was  trouble,  and  decided  to  punish  the  wrong-doers.  Having  a 
good  wind,  he  ran  his  boat  against  the  other  with  such  force  that  he  nearly 
upset  it,  which  so  frightened  the  Indians  that  six  of  them  jumped  overboard 
and  were  drowned.  Then,  being  a  good  sailor,  he  was  able  to  turn  his  boat  and 
ram  the  other  a  second  and  third  time,  when  more  Indians  jumped  into  the 
sea.  Gallup  then  went  on  board,  found  the  body  of  Oldham,  and  reverently 
committed  it  to  the  sea.  Finding  himself  unable  to  save  the  boat  on  account 
of  the  wind,  he  removed  the  rigging  and  goods,  leaving  the  boat  to  the  mercy 
of  the  winds  and  waves. 


As  the  weeks  and  months  went  by  the  settlers  were  working 
hard  to  cut  down  trees,  build  their  cabins,  cultivate  their  fields, 
and  make  comfortable  homes  in  the  new  land.  Each  year  more 
people  came,  some  from  Massachusetts  and  others  directly  from 
England. 

Two  years  later  the  people  began  to  think  of  their  fertile  land 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  They  hired  two  men,  who  knew 
about  surveying,  to  measure  the  land  and  set  bounds  by  marking 
trees  or  laying  heaps  of  stones.  Beginning  at  the  Hartford  line 
(now  East  Hartford)  they  measured  off  strips,  running  east  from 
the  river  three  miles  into  the  wilderness.  These  strips  varied  in 
width  from  seven  rods  to  two  hundred  rods.  This  made  long  and 
narrow  farms,  but  the  advantage  was  that  each  farm  had  some 
fertile  land  on  the  river,  with  fishing  privileges,  some  level  up- 
land, and  some  rough  woodland  at  the  east  end.  These  strips 
were  assigned  to  the  Wethersfield  men,  probably  according  to  the 
sums  paid  in  for  the  original  purchase  —  that  is,  those  who  had 
paid  the  most,  received  the  widest  strips.  Clement  Chaplin  re- 
ceived the  widest,  two  hundred  rods,  extending  from  near  trolley 
station  48  to  near  Chestnut  Hill  Avenue.  Next  to  his  lot  came 
Mathew  Mitchell's,  lying  between  stations  54  or  58. 

These  two  men  did  not  come  to  the  east  side  but  removed  to 
other  settlements  and  their  large  tracts  of  land  were  divided  and 
sold.  Samuel  Hale  and  Rev.  T.  Stevens  took  the  Chaplin  tract, 
and  Graves,  Bulkley,  Hollister  and  Rose  took  the  Mitchell  tract. 

The  names  of  all  who  received  land  in  this  allotment  are  given 
below,  beginning  at  the  north: 


I   George  Wyllis 

12  Samuel  Smith 

24  Francis  Kilborn 

2  John  Darning 

13  Thomas  Uffoot 

25  Thomas  Coleman 

3  Robert  Bates 

1 4  George  Hubbard 

26  Jeffrey  Ferris 

4  Richard  Gildersleeve 

15  George  Wyllis 

27  John  Whitmore 

5  Joseph  Sherman 

16  Robert  Rose 

28  John  Robbins 

6  Thurston  Rayner 

17  John  Gibbs 

29  Thomas  Wright 

7  Thomas  Welles 

18  Nathaniel  Foote 

30  Robert  Cove 

8  not  known 

19  Mr.  Parke 

31  James  Boosie 

9  not  known 

20  Abraham  Finch 

32  Leonard  Chester 

10  Rev.  Henry  Smith 

21  John  Plum 

23  Clement  Chaplin 

II   Samuel  Sherman 

22  John  Thompson 

34  Mathew  Mitchell 

Richard  Gildersleeve  23  John  Edwards 

(copied  from  "Glastenbury  Centenniel,"  by  Chapin.) 

The  survey  apparently  ended  near  the  mouth  of  Roaring 
Brook.  Farther  south  were  the  farms  of  John  Hollister  and  Rich- 
ard Treat,  acquired,  perhaps,  by  direct  purchase  from  the  Indians 
at  an  early  date. 

For  many  years  the  settlements  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
were  known  as  Naubuc  Farms  and  Nayaug  Farms,  the  latter 
including  all  that  are  now  known  as  South  Glastonbury. 

For  a  few  years  the  owners  continued  to  live  in  Wethersfield, 
but  as  they  had  leisure,  came  across  the  river  and  cultivated  some 
of  their  land,  after  partly  clearing  it  of  trees.  The  Indians  had 

13 


kept  some  places  clear  by  burning,  every  fall,  in  order  to  better 
see  their  game. 

Anyone  who  thinks  of  it  can  see  that  it  would  take  time  and 
hard  work  to  make  a  farm  out  of  a  wilderness.  At  first  they  had 
few  tools  and  very  few  horses  or  oxen.  You  do  not  need  to  be 
told  that  they  had  nothing  like  our  modern  farming  tools. 
Doubtless  each  man  had  brought  with  him  from  Massachusetts 
an  axe,  a  hoe  and  perhaps  a  spade.  I  doubt  if  they  even  had  more 
than  two  or  three  plows  in  the  entire  settlement  at  this  date,  1639. 

It  is  probable  that  for  the  first  few  years  they  planted  corn 
as  the  squaws  had  done,  by  digging  a  shallow  hole,  dropping  in 
the  seed,  covering  it,  and  later,  toiling  to  keep  down  the  fast- 
growing  weeds. 

As  early  as  1647  the  Wethersfield  people  had  twelve  score  or 
two  hundred  forty  head  of  cattle  and  hired  a  herder  to  care  for 
them.  The  herder  went  through  the  village  ringing  a  bell  as  a 
warning  for  farmers  to  turn  out  their  cows.  When  collected,  they 
were  all  driven  to  a  great  unfenced  pasture  or  common,  and 
watched  through  the  day  to  see  that  wolves  did  not  carry  off 
calves  or  lambs.  At  evening  they  were  all  driven  back  to  the 
settlement. 

At  times  wolves  were  so  numerous  and  troublesome  that  the 
town  paid  a  bounty  for  their  ears,  and  at  another  time  did  the 
same  for  the  heads  of  rattlesnakes,  and  at  last  these  dangerous 
animals  were  either  destroyed  or  driven  back  to  the  mountains. 

None  of  the  settlers  were  living  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
until  after  1640,  but  about  that  time  Matthew  Mitchell,  driven 
from  Saybrook  by  Indian  raids,  brought  cattle  to  Nayaug  to 
pasture  near  Red  Hill.  He  probably  had  a  herder  who  may  have 
built  a  "cave-cellar"  in  the  hillside,  or  have  lived  in  a  wigwam 
like  the  Indians. 

Before  1651  one  house  had  been  built  in  "Noag"  by  John 
Hollister,  on  land  now  owned  by  Theodore  Pratt.  It  is  probable 
that  some  had  been  built  at  Naubuc.  In  1653  several  families 
were  living  on  the  east  side,  and  in  that  year  they  petitioned  the 
General  Court  to  be  allowed  to  form  a  separate  military  company 
and  to  hold  their  "trainings"  or  drills  on  their  own  side.  In  those 
days  all  young  men  were  required  to  drill  several  times  a  year  in 
order  to  know  how  to  act  as  soldiers,  if  called  upon.  This  petition 
was  granted  and  was  the  first  step  in  the  separation  from  the 
mother  town. 

Years  went  by,  with  the  people  working  hard  to  improve  their 
farms  and  build  better  houses.  Roads  had  to  be  made,  and  bridges 
built.  The  country  road,  or  Main  Street,  was  laid  out  from  the 
East  Hartford  line  to  Roaring  Brook  in  1676,  probably  following 
an  Indian  trail,  for  the  most  part.  This  road  cut  through  all  the 
three  mile  farms,  and  to  compensate  the  owners  for  the  six  rods 
taken,  they  were  allowed  twenty  rods  additional  at  the  east  end 
of  their  lots. 

14 


Three  years  before  this,  in  1673,  a  second  purchase  had  been 
made  from  the  Indians,  of  a  five  mile  strip  lying  east  of  the  three 
mile  farms.  This  large  tract  was  bought  of  Turramugus,  son  of 
Sowheag,  and  other  heirs  of  that  chief,  for  the  sum  of  £24 
English  money,  $120,  which  would  now  have  a  purchasing  power 
of  many  times  that  amount. 

At  the  end  of  the  three  mile  lots  they  laid  out  another  road 
from  north  to  south.  This  old  "three  mile  road"  was  not  a  straight 
north  and  south  road,  but  followed  in  a  general  way  the  windings 
of  the  river.  Some  parts  of  it  are  still  in  use,  as  the  Wickam  Road, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  town,  and  that  from  Walker's  Corner, 
south  over  Matson  Hill  to  the  Portland  line.  The  central  part 
crossing  Town  Woods  has  been  abandoned. 

East  of  this  road  a  tract  one  mile  in  width  was  reserved  for  a 
Common,  where  all  of  the  inhabitants  could  pasture  their  stock. 
Later  this  tract  was  called  "The  Town  Woods."  Beyond  the 
Common  was  about  four  miles  of  wild  land,  comprising  what  we 
now  call  Buckingham. 

When  the  little  settlements  on  the  east  side  were  about  forty 
years  old,  they  began  to  think  of  setting  up  housekeeping  for 
themselves.  The  mother  town  gave  her  consent,  and  in  May, 
1690,  the  General  Court  granted  the  petition  that  the  east  side 
be  a  separate  town  when  they  should  have  a  church  and  a  good 
orthodox  minister  settled- among  them;  and  that  this  new  town 
should  be  called  Glastonbury  (or  Glassenbury  as  then  spelled). 

Two  years  later  they  had  called  their  minister  and  had  held 
their  first  town-meeting,  at  which  they  chose  as  Townsmen  or 
Selectmen,  Ephraim  Goodrich,  Joseph  Hill  and  Eleazer  Kimberly, 
the  last  named  being  also  Town  Clerk. 

The  next  year  the  church  was  finished  and  the  minister, 
Reverend  Timothy  Stevens,  installed.  Glastonbury  was  finally 
separated  from  Wethersfi.eld  and  carried  on  its  own  town  gov- 
ernment, sending  one  representative  to  the  General  Court  or 
Legislature,  as  we  now  call  it.  Since  1701  it  has  sent  two.  The  first 
representative  was  Eleazer  Kimberly,  the  same  man  who  was 
Town  Clerk  and  one  of  the  Townsmen.  His  name  should  stand 
high  on  the  roll  of  Founders. 

Years  went  by  and  the  town  grew  in  wealth  and  population, 
but  not  rapidly.  In  1692  there  were  thirty-four  families  in  the 
town,  and  by  1757  there  were  one  hundred  ninety-one.  The  people 
were  pushing  eastward  and  improving  the  wild  land  beyond  the 
Common.  From  time  to  time  the  town  gave  wild  land  to  the 
inhabitants,  at  one  time  as  much  as  one  hundred  acres  each.  As 
families  increased,  sons  grew  up,  married,  and  wanted  homes  of 
their  own.  Some  went  west  in  search  of  better  land,  but  others 
went  into  the  eastern  part  of  the  home  town.  By  1737  there  were 
enough  people  in  the  East  Farms  to  want  a  church  of  their  own, 
as  told  elsewhere. 

15 


In  1747  the  southeast  part  of  the  town  was  set  off  to  form, 
with  parts  of  Hebron  and  Colchester,  the  parish  of  Marlboro, 
which  later  became  a  town. 

As  early  as  1701  people  from  outside  the  town  had  gone  upon 
the  Common  and  taken  possession  of  some  parts  without  purchase 
or  permission.  These  people  were  driven  away  and  their  fences 
thrown  down,  which  seems  rather  unkind  as  there  was  so  much 
wild  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  Later,  in  1757,  to  avoid 
further  trouble  of  that  kind,  the  Common  was  divided  and  granted 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town. 

We  come  now  to  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of  the  country 
and  of  the  town.  For  years  the  feeling  had  been  growing  that  it 
was  not  just  that  the  colonies  should  be  taxed  to  support  the 
English  government  in  which  they  had  no  voice.  The  people  of 
the  Massachusetts  colony  began  to  resist  the  laws  they  thought 
unjust.  They  refused  to  buy  English  goods,  or  to  obey  the  Stamp 
Act.  Glastonbury  was  in  sympathy  with  these  rebels,  as  England 
called  them. 

In  1770  and  again  in  1774  the  town  passed  resolutions  offering 
sympathy  and  help  to  their  sister  colony.  They  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  see  that  every  able-bodied  man  had  a  good  gun,  and 
to  buy  powder  and  bullet  moulds.  (People  sometimes  melted  their 
pewter  spoons  and  dishes  to  make  bullets.) 

Meanwhile  the  different  colonies  had  sent  men  to  Philadelphia 
to  form  a  Continental  Congress  to  take  charge  of  the  government. 
This  congress  voted  to  raise  an  army,  and  appointed  Washington 
as  Commander-in-Chief.  This  army  was  called  the  Continental 
Army,  while  the  soldiers  of  each  separate  colony  were  called  Militia. 

The  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  Glastonbury 
Sunday,  by  courier  on  horseback.  The  ministers  in  both  churches 
gave  out  the  news  from  the  pulpits,  and  dismissed  the  people. 
Immediately  there  was  great  excitement,  and  many  spent  the 
rest  of  the  day  in  fixing  guns,  moulding  bullets  and  packing 
knapsacks.  On  Monday  they  gathered  at  North  Street,  and  under 
command  of  Captain  Elizur  Hubbard  started  on  their  march  to 
Boston. 

In  1777  a  law  was  made  that  every  freeman  should  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity  to  the  state  and  country.  Most  of  the  men  of 
this  town  took  this  oath,  but  we  are  told  that  two  refused,  and 
were  banished  to  Eastbury. 

*It  was  a  long  and  tedious  war,  often  very  discouraging  to 
our  people.  Those  who  took  part  in  it  suffered  great  hardships. 
Most  of  the  fighting  was  in  summer,  but  in  the  cold  winters,  the 

Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  provisions  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  board  in 
New  Haven  during  the  Revolution,  the  Junior  and  Sophomore  classes  of  Yale 
College  were  sent  to  Glastonbury  and  boarded  among  the  inhabitants.  Their 
headquarters  were  the  home  of  Wm.  Welles,  Esq.,  whose  brother,  Jonathan 
Welles,  had  been  a  tutor  in  the  college.  The  house  is  now  standing  and  is 
the  home  of  Mr.  Timothy  Dickinson. 

16 


This  white -oak  tree  stands  on  the  New  London  Turnpike  in 
East  Glastonbury,  on  land  owned  in  the  Buck  family  for  three 
generations,  being  now  owned  by  John  H.  Buck.  Its  circum- 
ference is  1 8  feet  9  inches  at  the  ground. 

The  legend  has  come  down  for  generations  that  when  the 
American  soldiers  in  the  War  of  18 12  marched  to  New  London, 
thev  halted  here  and  used  the  tree  for  target  practice. 

This  tree  has  been  estimated  to  be  between  300  and  400 
years  old. 


Ancient  map  of  Glastonbury  taken  from  Chapin's  Glastenbury 
Ce?2tennial,  published  in  1853,  giving  Indian  names  of  localities, 
and  showing  former  course  of  Salmon  River  through  the  meadows, 
joining  Sturgeon  River,  now  known  as  Roaring  Brook,  and  flow- 
ing into  the  Connecticut  River  above  Nayaug.  It  now  enters  the 
river  at  Naubuc. 


THE   TALCOTT   HOUSE,    1699. 

This  house  was  built  in  1692  by  Deacon  Benjamin  Talcott,  on 
site  now  occupied  by  home  of  Alfred  E.  Hollister,  and  was  the 
first  house  built  after  incorporation  of  the  town.  Located  op- 
posite High  School. 


This  house  was  built  by  the  town  in  1699  for  the  Rev.  Timothy 
Stevens  and  was  the  second  house  to  be  built  after  the  town's 
incorporation.  It  is  still  standing,  owned  by  the  estate  of 
Albert  W.  Moseley,  and  is  located  on  east  side  of  Main  Street, 
three-tenths  of  a  mile  south  of  Hubbard  Street. 


'^%,^  T 
'"m^ 


f'fh\ 


XW\ 


wfw- 


the  hollister  house,  1675. 
Oldest  House  in  Town 
The  Hollister  House,  built  1675,  by  John  Hollister,  showing 
overhang  and  brackets  with  scroll  work  at  corners  called  a 
"corbel."  Enlarged  and  improved,  it  is  now  owned  and  occupied 
by  James  B.  Killam.  Located  in  Nayaug,  west  of  Roaring 
Brook  Bridge. 


r  -4. 


\      '' 


^ 


Talcott  House 

From  a  drawing  made,  in  1828,  by  Laurilla  Smith,  one  of  the 
Smith  sisters. 


Continental  soldiers  shivered  in  their  tents  or  huts,  without  suf- 
ficient food  or  clothing.  In  the  militia  the  men  served  a  few 
months,  then  went  home  to  care  for  their  farms  and  families; 
then  perhaps  were  called  to  serve  again  the  next  season.  At  home 
the  women  and  children,  with  the  men  too  old  to  serve  as  soldiers, 
worked  hard  to  carry  on  their  little  farms,  raise  food  for  them- 
selves, and  spin  and  weave  wool  and  flax  for  their  clothing.  Even 
the  grandmothers  were  busy  day  and  night  making  and  mending 
clothing  and  knitting  mittens  and  socks  for  the  soldiers  in  the 
cold  camps. 

Dr.  Chapin  says,  in  his  history  of  Glastonbury,  that  in  this 
War  for  Independence,  one  hundred  twenty-seven  men  of  the 
town  served  in  the  militia,  twenty-four  in  the  Continental  Army, 
and  that  thirty-two  lost  their  lives.*  Goslee,  in  the  County 
History,  says  that  these  numbers  should  be  much  larger.  Peace 
came  at  last  and  great  must  have  been  the  rejoicing. 

No  battles  have  been  fought  on  our  soil,  but  the  sons  of  Glaston- 
bury have  borne  their  share  of  the  wars  in  other  parts  of  the 


*Names  of  men  who  served  in  the  Revolution.  Those  in  italics  were  in  the 
Continental  Army,  the  others  in  the  militia.  Those  who  lost  their  lives  in  the 
service  have  their  names  starred. 


Andrews,  David 

Andrews,  John 

Andrews,  Joseph 
*Andrews,  Solomon 

Benton,  Josiah 
*Bidwell,  Joseph 

Bidwell,  Thomas 

Bidwell,  Samuel 

Brooks,  David 
*Brooks,  Elizur 
*Brooks,  Elijah 

Brooks,  Josiah 

Canada,  David 

Case,  John 

Churchill,  Jesse 

Cole,  David 

Colebert,  Robert 

Conley,  John 

Crary,  Richard 
*Cunningham,  Dennis 

Dealing,  Samuel 
*Doane,  Seth 

Eddy,  John 

Foster,  Peter 

Fox,  Abraham 
*Fox,  Asa 

Fox,  David 

Fox,  Hosea 
*Fox,  John 

Fox,  Jeduthan 

Fox,  Lemuel 

Fox,  Russel 


Fox,  Simeon 
Freeman,  Samson 
Freeman,  Sifax 
Gains,  John 
*Gains,  Levi 
Goodale,  Asa 
Goodrich,  George 
Goodrich,  Isaac 
Goodrich,  Israel 
Goodrich,  Roswell 


HoUister,  Ens.  Thomas 
House,  Benjamin 
House,  Samuel 
Howe,  John,  Jr. 
Howard,  Benjamin 
Hubbard,  Aaron 
Hubbard,  David 
*Hubbard,  Elijah 
Hubbard,  Capt.  Elizur 
Hubbard,  Josiah 


Goodrich,  Lieut.  Stephen  Hunter,  Benjamin 
Grover,  Lieut.  Phinhehas    Huxford,  John 


Hale,  Benjamin,  Jr. 

Hale,  Elisha 
*Hale,  Capt.  Jonathan 
*Hale,  Jonathan,  2nd 

Hale,  Newport 

Hale,  William 

Hale,  Timothy,  Jr. 
*Hayard,  Benjamin 

Hildreth,  William 
*HilI,  Benjamin 
;  Hill,  Daniel 

Holden,  John 

Hollister,  Aaron 

Hollister,  Amos 

Hollister,  David 

Hollister,  Elijah 

Hollister,  Serg't  Israel 

Hollister,  Josiah 

Hollister,  John 

Hollister,  Roswell 

Hollister,  Joseph 


Kimberly,  Thomas 

*Lamb,  Joseph 
Loomis,  Josiah 

*Loveland,  Asa 
Loveland,  Elisha 

*Loveland,  Gad 

*Loveland,  Jonathan 

*Loveland,  Joel 
Loveland,  Lot,  Jr. 
Loveland,  Levi 
Loveland,   Thomas 
Matson,  Thomas 
McDowell,  Ens. 
McLean,  James 

*Miller,  John,  Jr. 
Miles,  Daniel 
Moseley,  Syphax 

*Morley,  John 
Morley,  Thomas 
Nedan,  Anthony 

(Continued  on  next  page.) 


17 


country.  Before  this  town  was  separated  from  Wethersneld,  a 
short  but  bitter  war  with  the  Pequots,  described  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  resulted  in  the  breaking  up  of  that  tribe. 

King  Philip's  War  was  fought  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  but  Wethersfield  men  went  to  help  defend  Massachusetts 
towns.  i\t  that  time  the  poeple  lived  in  constant  fear  of  Indian 
raids.  A  large  part  of  the  village  of  Wethersfield  was  surrounded 
by  a  palisade,  and  orders  given  that  the  goods,  grain  and  in- 
habitants outside  should  be  taken  within.  Other  houses  were 
fortified  by  making  doors,  windows  and  walls  of  double  strength. 
Even  in  Glastonbury  the  old  Talcott  house  opposite  the  High 
School  was  surrounded  by  a  stockade. 

In  the  last  French  and  Indian  war  Glastonbury  men,  with 
others,  were  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  and  there  suffered  terribly 
from  tropical  fevers.  Many  lost  their  lives. 

We  must  pass  by  the  Second  War  for  Independence  (1812), 
the  Mexican  war,  the  short  wars  with  Indians  in  the  south  and 


(Continued  from  preceding  page) 


Nickerson,  Francis 

Nye,  David 

Nye,  Melatiah 

Noulding,  Samuel 

Olcott,  Isaac 

Pease,  Serg't  Peter 
*Pratt,  Samuel 

Quarn,  John  (Indian) 

Scott,  Moses 

Scott,  Joseph 
*Shipman,  Reuben 

Shipman,  Stephen,  Jr. 

Simbo,  Prince 
*Smith,  Asaph 

Smith,  Elisha 

Smith,  Richard 
*Smith,  William 

Smithas,  William 

Stevens,  Epaphras 


*Stevens,  Jonathan 
Stevens,  Timothy 
Stevens,  Thomas 
Stocking,  George 
Stocking,  George,  Jr. 
Stratton,  Samuel 

*Strickland,  Jonathan 
Strickland,  Stephen 
Talcott,  Abraham 
Talcott,  George 
Talcott,  Oliver 

*Tallmadge,  William 
Taylor,  Azariah 

*Taylor,  Asahel 
Taylor,  David 
Tennent,  Caleb 

*Treat,  Isaac 

*Treat,  John 


Temple,  Joseph 
*Tryon,  Benjamin,  Jr. 
Try  on,  Ezra 
Tryon,  Isaac 
Tryon,  Thomas 
Tubbs,  Lemuel 
Warren,  John 
Weaver,  Jonathan 
Webster,  'Joshua 
Welles,  Capt.  Samuel 
Welles,  Samuel,  Jr. 
Welles,  Thaddeus 
Wickham,  John 
Woodbridge,  Col.  Howel 
Woodruff,  Martin 
Wright,  Daniel 
Wyres,  Eli  as 
Wyar,  James 


Treat,  Jonathan 

Of  the  total,  152,  24  were  in  the  Continental  Army.  In  all,  32  lost  their 
lives. 

Names  of  men  who  signed  the  petition  for  the  incorporation  of  the  town  of 
Glastonbury  and  may  be  considered  the  founders  of  the  town.  The  original 
spelling  is  followed. 


epherime  goodridg 
Joseph  Smith 
John  harinton 
Thomas  bruer 
ebenezer  hall  (Hale) 
John  Strickland 
John  hall  (Hale) 
william  hous 

samuell  hall,  sen'r  (Hale) 
patrack  stearne 
Richard  Treatt,  sener 
Thomas  Treatt 


Richard  Smith 
John  holister 
Jonathan  Smith 
Samuel  hall,  Jr.  (Hale) 
Samuel  Smith 
John  hubbord 
Joseph  hills 
John  Kilbornn 
Samuel  welles 
Thomas  hall,  (Hale) 
Richard  Treat,  Jr. 
william  wickham 


These  lists  are  copied  from  Chapin's  "Glastenbury  Centennial." 


west  and  speak  shortly  of  the  Civil  War  (1861-1865).  Glaston- 
bury sent  three  hundred  eighteen  men  to  that  war  for  three 
years,  and  seventy-two  for  shorter  terms.  Of  these,  thirty-two 
lost  their  lives  during  the  war.  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  the 
nation  was  saddened  by  the  assassination  of  the  great  and  good 
president,  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  Soldiers'  Monument,  standing 
at  the  center  of  the  Green  or  Park,  was  given  by  Mrs.  Mercy 
Turner  Barber  as  a  memorial  of  her  husband.  Captain  Barber 
of  Manchester,  and  of  all  her  townsmen  who  served  in  the  Civil 
War.  This  memorial  was  dedicated  May  30,  1913. 

In  1898  the  short  Spanish  war  occurred,  and  in  19 17  the  World 
War,  which,  we  hope,  can  be  called  the  last. 

Within  a  few  years  the  United  States  Government  has  placed 
marble  head-stones  to  mark  the  graves  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution. 

The  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the  American  Loyal  Legion  has 
placed  upon  the  Green  a  granite  boulder  holding  a  bronze  tablet, 
on  which  are  engraved  the  names  of  those  who  served  in  the 
World  War.  This  was  dedicated  in  1923. 


Farms 

When  the  settlers  had  built  their  cabins  and  fenced  in  their 
gardens,  the  next  big  task  before  them  was  to  clear  away  the 
trees  and  brush  on  all  sides,  to  leave  no  near  hiding-place  for 
Indians. 

The  big  fire-places  consumed  many  cords  of  wood,  sometimes 
as  many  as  sixty  cords  in  a  year.  When  a  large  tree  was  felled, 
the  limbs  and  branches  were  used  for  fire-wood,  but  the  trunks, 
if  straight  enough,  were  either  hewn  by  the  axe,  or  sawed  into 
beams,  planks  or  boards  for  building  houses,  barns,  or  small 
ships.  The  first  sawing  was  done  over  a  saw-pit  where  one  man 
in  the  pit  and  another  above,  pulled  and  pushed  a  large  saw  up 
and  down  through  the  log.  Or  the  log  was  raised  on  trestles  high 
enough  for  a  man  to  stand  beneath.  Later  saw-mills  were  built 
and  water-power  made  to  drive  the  saw. 

The  first  mill  in  this  town  was  built  in  1657,  near  Addison. 
This  gives  reason  to  think  that  after  that  date  fewer  log  houses 
were  built,  and  that  the  church  of  1693  was  a  frame  building. 
The  town  encouraged  the  building  of  saw-mills  by  giving  many 
acres  of  woodland  to  the  man  who  would  erect  a  mill.  Before 
many  years  all  the  important  streams  in  town  were  busy  turning 
saw-mills. 

One  was  built  on  Roaring  Brook  in  Wassuc,  in  171 2,  but 
probably  before  that  date  there  was  one  east  of  the  bridge  in 
Nayaug,  and  later  another  east  of  Main  Street  on  the  road  to 
Cotton  Hollow.  All  these  old  mills  have  been  abandoned,  and 
portable  steam  or  gas  saw-mills  do  the  little  sawing  now  needed. 

19 


In  some  places  so  eager  were  the  farmers  to  clear  away  the 
forests,  that  the  logs,  too  large  for  fire-wood,  were  piled  in  great 
heaps  and  burned. 

Later  these  logs  were  used  to  make  charcoal.  They  were  sawed 
and  split,  then  piled  on  end  around  a  center  post,  until  a  circular 
mound  as  large,  but  not  so  high,  as  a  small  house  was  made. 
This  contained  many  cords  of  wood.  This  mound  was  then 
covered  with  turf,  dirt  and  last  of  all  dust,  to  keep  out  the  air. 
A  cavity  was  left  near  the  base  in  which  to  start  the  fire  and 
another  at  the  top,  to  serve  as  a  chimney.  When  the  fire  was 
started,  it  must  be  watched  day  and  night  to  see  that  it  did  not 
burn  too  fast.  The  watcher  usually  had  a  little  hut  near  by,  where 
he  could  sleep  at  odd  hours.  About  two  weeks  were  needed  for 
the  burning  or  charring,  and  meanwhile  the  great  mound  settled 
lower  and  lower.  Then,  at  the  right  time,  the  charcoal  was  drawn 
out  with  an  iron  rake  and  watched  lest  it  should  blaze  up  and 
consume  itself.  This  charcoal  was  sold  to  blacksmiths  and  other 
workers  in  iron.  Now  other  fuels  have  taken  its  place,  and  that 
industry  has  passed  away. 

Nearly  every  man  worked  on  the  land,  even  ministers  and 
doctors  who  had  their  small  farms  and  worked  on  them.  At  the 
same  time  nearly  every  farmer  had  another  trade  at  which  he 
worked  during  the  winter  months.  As  there  were  at  first  no  stores, 
and  no  factories,  things  they  needed  must  be  made  by  the  farmers 
themselves  in  their  homes  or  small  shops.  One  called  a  cobbler 
made  and  mended  shoes  and  boots.  Another  had  a  small  forge 
and  hammered  out  on  his  anvil,  nails,  hinges  and  latches  for  the 
settlers'  homes  as  well  as  shoes  for  his  horse. 

Another  called  a  cabinet-maker,  who  had  learned  his  trade  in 
England,  made  chairs,  bedsteads  and  bureaus,  as  well  as  coffins. 
As  many  household  utensils  were  made  of  wood,  the  cooper's 
trade  was  important.  He  made  barrels,  pails,  tubs  and  firkins 
for  butter  and  other  things.  Some  tanned  hides  to  make  leather  — 
they  were  called  tanners.  Others  made  the  leather  into  saddles. 
They  were  called  saddlers.  These  are  a  few  of  the  trades  needed 
in  every  settlement. 

As  for  years  there  were  no  roads  except  bridle-paths,  like  the 
Indian  trails,  all  travel  was  on  foot,  on  horse-back  or  by  canoe. 
One  horse  had  to  carry  at  least  two,  a  man  on  a  saddle,  his  wife 
behind  him  on  a  pillion  or  cushion,  and  perhaps  a  child  in  front 
of  the  father,  or  a  baby  in  his  mother's  arms.  When  roads  were 
made,  the  first  wheeled  vehicles  were  ox-carts,  in  which  chairs 
were  placed  for  women  and  children.  Traveling  in  this  slow  way 
in  winter,  it  was  necessary  to  take  with  them  hot  bricks  or  stones, 
unless  they  had  a  little  foot-stove,  on  which  to  warm  their 
numbed  feet. 


Old  Houses  of  Glastonbury 

When,  where  and  by  whom,  was  built  the  first  house  in  Glaston- 
bury, remains  a  mystery  that  perhaps  can  never  be  solved. 

In  1639  and  40,  the  part  of  Wethersfield  lying  east  of  the  river 
was  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  farms  varying  in  width  from  seven 
to  two  hundred  rods,  but  all  extending  east  from  the  river  "three 
large  miles"  into  the  wilderness.  These  farms  were  assigned  to 
thirty-four  Wethersfield  residents  in  proportion,  probably,  to 
their  position,  and  the  amount  contributed  to  the  original  pur- 
chase from  the  Indians. 

Stiles,  in  his  History  of  Wethersfield,  says  that  at  that  time  no 
white  man  was  living  east  of  the  river  south  of  Springfield,  but 
that  Matthew  Mitchell  had  brought  cattle  from  Saybrook  to 
pasture  at  "Noag"  where  he  probably  had  a  keeper  for  them. 
If  so,  it  is  also  probable  that  there  was  a  "cave-cellar"  built  in 
the  bank  at  Red  Hill  for  his  shelter.  Stiles  also  says  that  in  1649 
Thomas  Edwards  was  living  east  of  the  river  and  was  probably 
the  first  settler. 

*It  is  certain  that  in  1651  John  Hollister  had  a  house  and  other 
buildings  at  Nayaug  and  in  that  year  Josiah  Gilbert  became  his 
tenant  and  remained  so  until  1663.  This  house  stood  near  the 
river  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Theodore  Pratt,  a  lineal  descend- 
ant. About  the  same  time  Richard  Treat,  John  Hollister's  brother- 
in-law,  built  on  the  adjoining  farm,  in  the  rear  of  the  present 
Nayaug  school  house.  Tradition  had  long  held  that  these  were 
the  first  two  houses  in  Glastonbury,  but  the  writer  is  inclined  to 
think  that  this  tradition  applies  to  the  southern  part  of  the 
town,  and  that  the  bona  fide  first  house  was  at  Naubuc,  that 
section  being  so  much  nearer  the  protection  of  the  mother  settle- 
ment west  of  the  river. 

The  first  dwellings  built  by  the  early  settlers  of  this  and  other 
Connecticut  towns  were  either  log  houses  or  cave-cellars  similar 
to  the  western  dug-out.  A  shallow  pit  was  dug  in  a  hillside,  the 
sides  lined  with  stone  to  the  height  of  about  seven  feet,  the  front 
closed  by  logs,  and  the  whole  roofed  over  by  small  logs,  or  thatch 

*This  story  is  told  of  John  Hollister,  the  first  of  the  name  in  America.  He 
lived  in  Wethersfield,  but  used  to  come  across  the  river  to  cultivate  corn  on 
his  farm  at  "Noag,"  as  he  spelled  it.  One  day,  while  at  work  there,  an  Indian 
came  to  him  and  said,  in  his  Indian  lingo,  "Me  big  Indian  —  You  big  pale 
face.  We  have  fight.  —  See  who  best  man,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  Now  Mr. 
Hollister  was  a  shrewd  man,  and  knew  that  Indians,  although  they  could  run 
like  deers,  were  not  so  strong  as  white  men  in  their  arms  and  backs.  Those 
muscles  had  not  been  toughtened  by  swinging  an  axe  or  hoe.  They  made  the 
squaws  do  their  work.  He  did  not  want  to  hurt  the  Indian  and  so  make  an 
enemy  of  him.  They  began  to  wrestle  and  he  simply  tried  to  tire  the  Indian 
out  without  throwing  him.  When  the  Indian  began  to  get  out  of  breath,  they 
rested  awhile,  then  began  again. 

After  they  had  wrestled  for  some  time,  the  red  man  was  satisfied  to  stop 
without  throwing  the  pale  face.  Then  they  both  sat  down  on  a  log  and  smoked 
the  "peace-pipe,"  and  never  had  any  trouble  afterwards. 


of  some  kind.  These  were  for  temporary  occupation  only,  except 
by  the  very  poor.  Log  houses  were  more  permanent  and  must 
have  prevailed  even  after  saw-mills  were  established.  Two  or 
three  generations  of  wilderness  life  taught  the  later  pioneers  of 
the  west  and  south  to  build  warm,  comfortable  and  not  inartistic 
houses  of  logs,  which  stood  for  decades. 

The  first  church  in  Wethersfield,  built  soon  after  1641,  was  of 
logs,  "underdaubed  with  clay,"  and  strange  as  it  seems,  it  had 
a  bell.  The  love  of  things  English  was  deep  in  those  first  settlers. 
In  1647  this  church  was  clapboarded  and  had  previously  been 
wainscoted. 

Years  later,  a  son  of  the  first  minister  wrote  of  it,  "Ye  first 
meeting-house  was  solid,  mayde  to  withstand  ye  wicked  on- 
saults  of  ye  Red  Skins.  Its  foundations  were  laide  in  ye  feare 
of  ye  Lord,  but  its  walls  were  truly  laide  in  ye  feare  of  ye  Indians." 

These  chimneys  of  these  early  houses  were  logs  laid  up  "cob- 
house"  fashion  and  covered,  inside  and  out,  with  clay  in  which 
hay  was  used  as  a  binder.  Or,  four  posts  were  set  up  for  corners 
and  the  sides  filled  with  smaller  sticks  and  all  covered  with  clay. 
This  fashion  of  building  made  hot  fires  a  danger,  and  an  officer 
called  the  chimney-viewer  was  required  to  examine  all  chimneys 
once  in  six  months.  Later,  stone,  laid  up  in  clay,  was  used  instead 
of  timber,  making  a  solid  and  massive  structure. 

Although  log  houses  were  in  use  for  many  years,  it  is  certain 
that  the  well-to-do  began  to  build  frame  houses  at  an  early  date. 
The  typical  house  of  this  period  was  of  two  rooms  on  a  floor  with 
an  immense  chimney  between.  In  front  of  the  chimney  was  an 
entry  from  which  stairs  led  to  a  second  story  like  the  first.  The 
floor  of  the  second  story  was  supported  by  a  great  beam  crossing 
the  center  of  each  room  from  wall  to  chimney,  parallel  with  the 
front.  Such  a  beam  was  called  the  "summer"  or  "summer-tree," 
and  was  sometimes  sheathed  with  planed  boards,  but  often  left 
as  finished  by  the  hewer's  axe.  (It  should  be  understood  that 
this  word  "summer"  is  derived  from  the  French  word,  "sommier" 
meaning  a  pack-horse,  and  was  given  to  the  great  central  beam 
because  it  carried  the  floor  above  it.)  The  frame  was  of  oak, 
though  less  often  of  pine.  Floors,  also,  were  also  sometimes  of 
oak.  The  foundation  and  cellar  walls  were  of  stone  and  clay,  but 
the  cellar  extended  under  the  north  half  of  the  house  only. 
Brick  and  lime  for  mortar  were  not  to  be  had  at  first.  The  walls 
of  these  early  houses  were  not  sheathed,  but  the  spaces  between 
the  studs  were  filled  with  clay  mixed  with  hay,  making  them 
somewhat  warmer.  A  Welles  house,  which  stood  where  the 
Connecticut  Company  now  stores  its  lumber,  had  the  walls  on 
one  room  lined  with  brick,  making  it  Indian-proof.  The  exterior 
walls  were  covered  with  wide  clapboards,  and  the  roof,  which 
was  of  steep  pitch,  with  hand-riven  shingles.  (The  shingles  of 
the  first  church  of  Farmington  lasted  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years.) 


In  many  early  houses  the  second  story  overhung  the  first  by 
several  inches,  and  sometimes  the  overhang  was  ornamented  by 
brackets  or  pendants,  with  scroll  work  at  the  corners  called  a 
"corbel."  No  reason  is  known  for  this  overhang  except  that  it 
helped  to  shed  rain.  This  feature  of  house  walls  gradually  dis- 
appeared but  can  still  be  seen  in  some  old  houses. 

The  interior  of  these  houses  was  sometimes  ceiled,  but  some- 
times left  unfinished.  The  great  chimney  and  the  heavy  frame 
with  its  covering,  seemed  to  exhaust  the  family  resources,  so 
that  the  interior  finishing  and  furnishing  were  entailed  on  the 
next  generation.  As  wealth  and  family  increased,  such  a  house 
was  sometimes  enlarged  by  extending  the  rear  roof  down  to  the 
level  of  the  first  story,  thus  making  room  for  a  kitchen,  with  a 
pantry  at  one  end  and  a  bedroom  at  the  other.  Sometimes  the 
roof  was  even  extended  beyond  these  to  cover  two  or  three  shed 
rooms.  This  plan  had  the  disadvantage  of  leaving  the  kitchen 
without  windows.  Such  a  house  was  called  a  "Lean-to"  (pro- 
nounced "linter")  house,  or  in  some  places  as  "Salt-box"  house, 
from  its  resemblance  to  the  box  holding  salt,  which  hung  in  the 
fire-place  —  its  cover  sloped  both  ways  in  order  to  shed  the  soot 
washed  down  by  the  rains. 

It  is  said  that  one  reason  for  this  style  of  house  was  the  desire 
to  escape  a  special  tax  levied  on  houses  of  full  two  stories.  It  is 
certain  that  it  was  the  prevailing  style  up  to  the  time  of  the 
Revolution  although  at  the  same  time  gambrel-roofed  houses 
were  built. 

O.  W.  Holmes,  the  poet,  born  under  a  gambrel  roof,  immortal- 
ized it  in  these  lines: 

"Gambrel!  Gambrel!  let  me  beg 

You'll  look  at  a  horse's  hinder  legs: 

First  great  ankle  above  the  hoof  — 

That's  the  gambrel!  —  hence  gambrel  roof." 

This  style  seems  to  have  held  its  own  to  the  present  day. 

As  years  went  by,  a  few  people  of  wealth,  abandoning  the 
central  chimney,  built  a  full  two  story  house  with  a  chimney  at 
each  end,  and  a  wide  central  hall.  The  Miller  house,  and  the 
brick  house  near  station  45,  are  examples  of  this  style  and  were 
doubtless,  when  new,  about  the  finest  in  town.  In  this  period, 
the  "summer,"  or  great  central  beam,  disappeared,  or  was  made 
of  the  same  depth  as  the  joists,  and  so  concealed  by  the  plaster. 

The  two-chimney  house  did  not  prevail  largely  in  this  town. 
Most  builders  retained  the  great  central  chimney,  but  abandon- 
ing the  long  rear  roof,  built  on  the  same  ground  plan  a  two-story 
house  and  added  a  low  lean-to  with  roof  joining  the  main  wall 
below  the  second  story  windows.  This  plan  gave  more  room  and 
better  light  on  the  second  floor.  Dozens  of  them  may  be  counted 
along  Main  Street,  between  Roaring  Brook  and  Hartford,  all 
of  them  having  a  central  door  and  nine  front  windows.  They  are 
spoken  of  as  colonial  houses,  but  doubtless  many  of  them  were 

23 


built  after  the  colonies  became  states.  This  style  seems  to  have 
been  almost  universal  during  the  half  century  following  the 
Revolution.  Some  of  these  front  doors  were  quite  handsome, 
having  a  fan  light  above  and  narrow  side-lights,  with  usually  a 
brass  or  iron  knocker.  Otherwise  they  were  severely  plain  on  the 
exterior  —  verandas,  porches  and  bay-windows  being  later  accre- 
tions. 

The  interior  was  sometimes  nicely  finished  —  especially  the  two 
front  rooms  which  were  wainscoted  and  provided  with  mantels 
and  corner  cupboards.  The  kitchen  had  a  great  fire-place  and 
the  other  rooms,  smaller  ones.  At  one  side  of  the  great  fire-place 
was  the  bake-oven  and  beneath  it  a  cavity  for  the  storing  of 
dry  wood.  As  the  chimney  narrowed  above  the  first  floor,  the 
space  was  utilized  for  chimney  cupboards,  where  were  stored 
articles  that  must  be  protected  against  frost.  By  the  side  of  the 
fire-place  stood  the  shovel  and  tongs,  the  warming-pan,  foot- 
stove,  and  bellows  for  starting  the  fire  in  the  morning.  At  each 
end  of  the  fire-place  a  stone  seat  was  sometimes  built  in.  Fire- 
dogs  or  andirons  stood  in  the  center  on  which  the  wood  was 
laid.  In  building  fires,  the  back-log  was  laid  on  the  hearth  behind 
the  irons  and  a  fore-stick  across  them,  around  and  over  which 
was  piled  the  lighter  and  dryer  materials.  The  back-log  was 
supposed  to  last  all  day  and  provide  a  mass  of  coals,  which  being 
banked  at  night  would  keep  until  morning,  when  they  were 
raked  forward  and  a  new  back-log  supplied,  with  a  fore-stick  and 
other  materials.  If  for  any  reason  the  fire  did  not  keep,  it  was  a 
serious  matter.  A  boy  must  hurry  to  the  nearest  neighbor  and 
borrow  a  kettle  full  of  coals,  or  the  tedious  process  of  getting  a 
spark  with  flint  and  tinder  must  be  resorted  to.  This  was,  of 
course,  before  the  days  of  matches  (1829).  The  bake-oven  was 
heated  but  once  a  week,  unless  for  special  occasions.  A  great  fire 
was  built  on  the  oven  floor,  using  the  best  of  wood.  When  it  was 
entirely  burned  down  to  coals,  these  were  drawn  out  and  the  oven 
swept  clean  of  ashes;  then  it  was  filled  with  bread  and  pies  pre- 
viously prepared.  If  the  family  was  large,  the  oven  might  be 
filled  a  second  time;  and  last  of  all,  a  great  dish  of  beans  was  put 
in  and  left  to  bake  slowly  all  night.  Sometimes  the  brown  bread 
was  baked  in  the  same  manner. 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  a  few  of  the  earlier  houses. 
Dr.  Chapin,  in  his  "Glastonbury  for  200  years,"  mentions  the 
first  four  houses  built  in  the  town  after  its  incorporation  in  1692. 
The  first  was  built  by  Deacon  Benjamin  Talcott  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  home  of  Alfred  HoUister,  opposite  the  High 
School.  It  was  of  two  stories,  built  of  heavy  oak  timbers,  and,  as 
settlers  had  not  outgrown  their  fears  of  the  Indians,  it  was 
stockaded  and  designed  as  a  place  of  refuge  for  women  and 
children.  It  stood  for  one  hundred  fifty  years  and  was  torn  down 
in  1 85 1  by  Jared  Talcott  to  make  room  for  the  present  structure. 
An  old  wood-cut  shows  it  as  a  rectangular  house  with  a  handsome 

24 


front  door  and  hooded  windows.  A  long  extension  in  the  rear  of 
the  present  house  was  an  addition  to  the  original  structure.  In 
1727  the  same  Deacon  Talcott  built  for  his  son  Samuel  the  old 
lean-to  house,  which  was  torn  down  in  191 2  to  make  room  for 
the  Williams'  Memorial.  In  this  house  was  the  famous  wallpaper, 
said  to  be  the  first  brought  into  town.  Thirty  years  later,  this 
Samuel  Talcott  built  for  his  son  Samuel  a  similar  house  in  East 
Glastonbury,  now  standing  and  owned  by  Edward  Thompson. 
In  this  house  was  born  Mary  Talcott  who  became  the  grand- 
mother of  Admiral  Dewey.  Later  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
MacLean  family  and  was  the  home  of  the  Revolutionary  soldier, 
James  MacLean,  who,  when  held  prisoner  on  board  a  British 
ship,  near  the  West  Indies,  escaped  by  swimming  in  the  shadow 
of  the  vessel  to  the  shore.  Thence  he  secured  passage  to  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  and  from  there  walked  home,  a  walk  of 
about  six  hundred  miles.  Then  he  promptly  re-enlisted. 

The  second  house  mentioned  by  Dr.  Chapin  was  that  built  by 
the  town  for  the  Reverend  Timothy  Stevens,  the  first  minister. 
In  1694,  the  town  voted  to  build  him  a  "girt  dwelling-house 
20  ft.  X  40  ft.,  with  a  good  stack  of  chimney,  Mr.  S.  to  furnish 
glass  and  nails."  Apparently  it  was  not  built  until  several  years 
later,  or  after  1699.  It  is  standing  now,  owned  by  the  estate  of 
A.  Moseley  and  occupied  by  Mr.  Herbert  Shipman  and  family. 
It  is  of  the  gambrel  roof  type  and  "the  good  stack  of  chimney," 
built  of  stone  and  clay,  has  been  replaced  by  brick  and  mortar 
chimneys.  Why  it  was  built  so  far  from  the  church,  which  stood 
on  the  Green,  is  not  known. 

The  third  house,  Chapin  says,  was  in  Nayaug,  but  does  not 
m.ention  the  builder.  The  fourth  was  in  East  Glastonbury  and 
was  built  by  Gideon  Hollister.  This  was  a  lean-to  house  and  stood 
on  high  land  to  the  northwest  of  Wassuc  Cemetery  or  quite  near 
the  fork  in  the  New  London  Turnpike.  Chapin  says  it  was  with- 
out tenon  or  mortice,  but  all  timbers  were  half-lapped.  It  stood 
until  about  1870. 

Another  very  old  house,  built  about  1719  or  before,  was  the 
Benton  house,  which  stood  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  nearly 
opposite  the  Congregational  church.  In  this  house  was  a  great 
fire-place  having  stone  seats  at  each  end.  During  a  thunder 
storm,  on  August  29,  1719,  Mary  Hale  was  sitting  on  one  of  these 
seats  and  was  instantly  killed  by  a  brick  from  the  chimney  top, 
which  was  struck  by  lightning.  Her  epitaph  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  Green  Cemetery  reads,  "Here  lies  one  whose  life's 
threads  were  cut  asunder;  She  was  struck  dead  by  a  clap  of 
thunder." 

Another  old  lean-to  house,  of  uncertain  date,  is  now  standing 
in  East  Glastonbury,  lately  owned  by  William  Chamberlin,  but 
formerly  known  as  the  Latimer  house.  It  is  situated  near  the 
foot  of  Kongscut  mountain  on  the  road  to  Hebron,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  built  as  a  tavern,  but  the  bar  has  disappeared.  Other- 

25 


wise  it  is  little  changed  from  its  original  state.  In  its  lonely  posi- 
tion, with  the  mountain  for  a  background,  it  looks  a  picturesque 
relic  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  town  near  Grindle  Brook  is  a  good 
specimen  of  this  type  of  house,  though  not  so  large  nor  so  old 
as  the  others  mentioned.  It  was  built  in  1787  by  Samuel  Stratton, 
whose  daughter  Mehitable  was  born  there  soon  after  its  com- 
pletion, and  lived  there  till  after  the  century  mark,  dying  in  her 
son's  house  in  East  Haddam  at  the  age  of  105.  This  is  the  only 
house  of  the  lean-to  type  known  by  the  writer  to  have  been  built 
after  the  Revolution. 

The  Hollister-Kellam  house  in  Nayaug,  west  of  Roaring  Brook 
bridge,  is  doubtless  the  oldest  house  in  town  now  standing.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  built  in  1675  by  John  Hollister,  who  inherited 
the  "Noag  farms"  from  his  father.  Lieutenant  John  of  Wethers- 
field,  who  built  the  house  in  the  meadow  before  referred  to. 

For  the  reason  that  the  meadow  was  subject  to  overflow  by  the 
"Great  River,"  the  son  removed  to  a  dryer  spot  and  placed  his 
hearth-stone  above  high-water  mark  and  near  good  water  power, 
which  his  family  in  later  times  utilized  for  milling  purposes. 

This  house  was  of  the  type  of  the  first  Talcott  house  mentioned 
—  a  plain  rectangular  house  of  four  rooms,  two  below  and  two 
above.  About  one  hundred  forty  years  ago,  it  was  enlarged  and 
improved  by  Captain  Roswell  HolHster  who  added  the  lean-to, 
the  fine  panelling  in  the  two  front  rooms,  and  a  second  flue  to 
the  chimney.  The  second  flue  had  connected  with  it  the  oven  for 
baking  and  on  the  second  floor  an  oven  for  smoking  meat.  The 
present  owner,  James  B.  Kellam,  has  also  improved  the  house. 

A  charming  example  of  early  houses  is  that  owned  by  William 
Connel,  a  gambrel-roofed  house  on  the  Treat  farm,  on  Tryon 
Street. 


Food 

In  the  very  early  days  all  food  had  to  be  grown  on  the  farms 
or  obtained  from  the  forests  and  streams.  Bear  and  deer  were 
hunted  for  meat  and  for  their  skins.  Smaller  animals  were  caught 
in  traps  and  birds  in  snares.  Some  writers  mention  wild  turkeys, 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  they  were  so  numerous  here  as  they  were 
farther  south.  Wild  geese,  ducks  and  other  water  fowl  were 
abundant.  Several  kinds  of  fish  could  be  caught  in  the  river. 
Shad  were  so  plentiful  that  they  brought  only  a  few  pence  each, 
and  salmon,  which  have  now  disappeared,  were  almost  given 
away.  Farmers  bought  quantities  of  these  fish  and  preserved  them 
in  brine  for  future  use. 

Every  thrifty  housewife  thought  she  must  have  in  the  cellar 
a  barrel  of  salt  pork  and  another  of  beef.  Hams  hung  in  the  smoke- 
house and  ropes  of  sausages  in  the  cold  attic.  Tallow  from  beeves 

26 


was  used  for  candles  and  waste  fat  was  saved  for  soap,  which  was 
made  by  boiling  it  in  lye  from  wood  ashes. 

*Orchards  of  apple  and  cherry  trees  were  soon  planted,  but 
years  passed  before  they  bore  fruit. 

The  Indians  taught  the  first  settlers  how  to  raise  corn  and  how 
to  pound  it  in  a  stone  mortar.  (Later  the  whites  used  a  wooden 
mortar  and  later  still,  built  corn  mills  for  grinding  it.)  They  also 
taught  their  ways  of  using  corn  in  making  hominy,  hoe-cake, 
ash-cake  and  boiling  the  green  corn  with  beans  to  make  succo- 
tash. They  used  the  fine  meal  with  rye  flour  to  make  their  bread, 
using  two  parts  of  meal  to  one  of  flour,  for  wheat  flour  was  a 
luxury  and  must  be  saved  for  special  occasions  or  for  the  sick. 

Pumpkins  and  squashes  were  raised  and  cut  into  strips  and 
dried  for  winter  use.  Stewed  and  made  into  a  sauce,  they  formed 
an  important  part  of  the  diet.  Children  of  the  present  day  would 
think  themselves  badly  treated  if  they  had  for  supper  only  a 
piece  of  corn-bread  and  a  dish  of  pumpkin  sauce.  Usually  there 
was  food  enough,  but  it  was  very  plain  and  of  little  variety. 

Potatoes  were  not  introduced  until  1720,  and  then  some 
thought  the  seed-balls  on  the  tops  were  to  be  eaten,  but  said 
they  "didn't  much  care  for  them."  Wild  fruits  and  berries  were 
gathered  eagerly  when  growing  near  the  clearings.  Chestnuts 
grew  wild  on  the  hills  and  hickory  nuts  in  the  meadows,  as  now. 


Clothing 

Our  great-grandfathers  took  a  lesson  from  the  Indians  and 
used  the  skins  of  animals  for  a  part  of  their  clothing.  Bear  and 
deer  skins  were  made  into  coats  and  other  garments,  while  the 
skins  of  raccoons  and  squirrels  were  used  for  caps  and  mittens. 
The  larger  skins  were  also  used  for  blankets  and  rugs. 

Nearly  everything  the  women  and  children  had  for  clothing 
was  made  from  materials  grown  on  the  farm.  Most  farmers  kept 
a  few  sheep  and  in  early  summer  the  wool  was  sheared,  or  clipped, 
from  their  backs,  was  washed  and  carded  or  combed  into  soft, 
fleecy  rolls.  The  big  wheel  was  brought  into  the  kitchen,  and 
mother  and  girls  took  turns  in  spinning  these  rolls  into  thread 
which  later  was  woven  into  cloth  or  blankets.  Three  of  the 
threads  were  twisted  together  for  yarn,  out  of  which  socks  and 
mittens  were  knit. 

Sometimes  women  went  out  to  spin  for  their  neighbors,  and 
were  called  "spinsters."  As  they  were  usually  single  women,  that 
word  came  to  mean  an  unmarried  woman  past  her  girlhood. 

*From  the  will  of  John  Hollister  of  Wethersfield,  dated  1665,  "I  give  to  my 
eldest  son,  John  Hollister,  my  whole  farms  at  Noag  .  .  .  and  do  require  him 
to  give  to  his  mother  during  her  life-time  twenty  bushels  of  apples  and  two 
barrels  of  cider,  provided  ye  orchards  do  thrive  and  prosper"  —  which  shows 
that  our  ancestors  started  apple  orchards  at  an  early  date. 

.     27 


Every  girl  was  taught  to  spin,  but  not  every  family  owned  a 
loom  on  which  the  weaving  could  be  done,  so  that  was  put  out 
to  be  done  by  some  man  or  woman  who  owned  a  loom  and  had 
learned  the  weaver's  trade.  This  "home-spun"  cloth  must  then 
be  fulled,  dyed,  and  pressed  before  it  was  fit  to  be  made  into 
clothing.  Very  soon  small  shops  were  built  where  this  heavy 
work  was  done  by  men  and  boys.  At  last  when  the  cloth  was 
ready,  mother  and  daughters  got  busy  with  scissors,  needle  and 
thread,  cut,  fitted  and  stitched  by  hand  the  garments  needed 
by  the  family.  There  were  no  sewing  machines  in  those  days. 

This  home-spun  cloth  was  very  strong,  and  coats  and  dresses 
were  handed  down  from  one  to  another  as  the  family  grew. 

These  wool  garments  were  for  winter  wear,  but  linen  was  used 
for  summer.  Cotton  cloth  had  to  be  imported,  and  was  dear  until 
Eli  Whitney  invented  the  cotton-gin.  Flax  was  raised  by  some 
farmers,  but  the  process  of  preparing  it  was  a  long  and  tiresome 
one.  When  it  had  been  rotted,  broken,  swingled,  hatcheled  and 
carded,  it  was  called  tow,  and  spun  on  the  "little  wheel;"  after 
which  it  was  woven  and  whitened  by  lying  on  the  grass  in  the 
sunshine. 

The  finest  of  this  linen  was  used  for  table  cloths,  bed  sheets  and 
for  best  clothing.  A  coarser  kind  was  used  for  work  dresses,  and 
a  still  coarser  kind  was  thought  suitable  for  boy's  shirts.  The  poor 
boys  knew  better.  They  hated  those  new  linen  shirts,  for  the 
tiny  bits  of  bark  from  the  outer  husk  of  the  flax  scratched  their 
bare  shoulders  unmercifully.  But  after  a  number  of  washings, 
those  same  shirts  became  quite  comfortable.  A  very  coarse  linen, 
called  tow-cloth,  was  used  for  bed-ticks  or  for  grain  sacks.  These 
ticks,  when  filled  with  straw  or  hay,  were  their  summer  mattresses 
but  in  winter  they  were  glad  to  sleep  on  feather  beds. 

Shoes,  too,  were  made  at  home.  If  the  goodman  of  the  house 
could  not  make  them,  the  village  cobbler  came  once  or  twice 
a  year,  measured  the  feet  and  made  up  shoes  for  the  family.  If 
the  father's  fine  Sunday  boots  were  past  their  usefulness,  the 
tops  were  cut  off  and  made  into  shoes  for  the  boys;  and  they  had 
to  last  a  long  time. 


Churches 

In  the  early  days  church  and  town  were  one,  or  perhaps  we 
should  say  that  the  church  was  controlled  by  the  town.  (By 
church  is  meant  sometimes  the  building  and  sometimes  the 
religious  society.  If  used  to  mean  society,  the  building  was  then 
called  the  meeting-house.) 

Wethersfield  people  had  a  meeting-house  built  of  logs,  about 
1640,  but  we  think  the  meeting-house  built  by  Glastonbury, 
in  1693,  was  a  frame  building,  as  a  saw-mill  had  been  built  in 
1657  and  sawed  lumber  could  be  had. 

28 


Samuel  Smith  and  John  Hubbard  had  given  ten  acres  of  land 
for  a  church  and  cemetery,  and  there  the  church  was  built,  near 
where  the  Town  Hall  now  stands.  It  was  doubtless  a  small  and 
plain  building,  without  a  chimney,  for  churches  were  not  warmed 
until  years  later.  (Women  and  children  carried  little  foot-stoves 
to  keep  their  feet  warm.)  This  plain  little  building  stood  until 
1734  when  it  was  burned  to  the  ground.  The  next  year  a  larger 
church  was  built,  and  to  favor  the  people  of  Nayaug,  it  was 
placed  farther  south,  on  the  west  side  of  the  country  road,  just 
north  of  the  present  home  of  William  H.  Carrier,  and  stood  one- 
half  on  the  highway.  This  church  stood  for  one  hundred  years, 
when,  in  1836,  the  parish  was  divided  and  two  churches  were 
built,  one  farther  north,  and  the  other  in  South  Glastonbury. 
This  last  one  is  still  standing.  The  north  church  was  burned  in 
1867,  but  was  soon  rebuilt  on  the  same  spot. 

At  this  time  the  eastern  part  of  the  town  was  becoming  settled. 
There  were  good  farms  in  the  valleys  and  saw-mills  on  the 
streams.  By  1730  there  were  enough  settlers  in  the  East  Farms 
to  wish  to  have  a  church  in  their  section.  The  town  gave  its  per- 
mission and  the  East  Farms  was  made  a  separate  parish  under 
the  name  of  Eastbury.  A  small  church  was  built  near  the  center 
of  the  parish,  opposite  the  old  cemetery,  about  a  mile  beyond  the 
present  village  of  East  Glastonbury.  There  was  no  house  near  it, 
and  as  the  land  was  not  the  best,  few  cared  to  cultivate  it.  In 
1806,  about  half  a  century  later,  that  little  church  was  sold  and 
a  new  one  built  in  Buckingham.  The  present  church  is  the  second 
built  on  that  spot.  (It  should  be  understood  that  the  Eastbury 
parish  and  church  came  nearly  a  century  before  that  of  South 
Glastonbury.) 

There  was  no  Methodist  church  in  town  until  1796  when  a 
society  was  formed  in  Wassuc  and  for  several  years  held  meet- 
ings in  homes  of  members;  but  in  18 10  a  small  church  was  built 
north  of  the  Wassuc  school  house.  The  old  red  house,  now  stand- 
ing on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  was,  for  many  years,  the  home 
of  Father  Stocking,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  and  chief  sup- 
porters of  that  church.  He  was  also  the  preacher  for  some  years. 
In  1847  that  church  was  taken  down  and  a  new  one  built  in  the 
village  of  East  Glastonbury,  which  was  burned  about  fifty  years 
ago,  and  the  one  now  standing  was  built. 

In  1828  the  little  brick  church  on  High  Street  was  built  by  a 
Methodist  society  but  has  not  been  used  for  several  years.  It 
has  now  become  a  library.  In  1806  the  first  Episcopal  church  was 
built  on  the  lot  in  front  of  the  Old  Church  Cemetery;  but  in  1837 
their  parish  was  divided.  St.  Luke's  was  built  in  South  Glaston- 
bury, and  later  St.  James'  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town. 
St.  James'  was  partly  destroyed  by  fire  about  twenty-five  years 
ago,  but  was  soon  rebuilt.  The  Old  Church  building  was  taken 
down,  moved  south  and  set  up  opposite  the  present  home  of 

29 


Mr.  L.  W.  Howe.  It  was  used  for  an  Academy  for  many  years, 
and  later  as  a  Grange  Hall. 

About  twenty  years  ago  a  German  Lutheran  church  was  built 
on  Grove  Street,  but  in  1925  was  sold  to  a  Polish  society  and  a 
new  church  built  on  Griswold  Street. 

In  1878  St.  Augustine's,  the  first  Roman  Catholic  church  in 
town,  was  built  on  a  beautiful  location  overlooking  the  village 
of  South  Glastonbury.  In  1903  St.  Paul's  was  built  on  Naubuc 
Avenue. 


Schools 

*In  the  very  early  days  fathers  and  mothers  taught  their 
children  in  the  evenings  by  the  light  of  pine  splinters  stuck  in 
the  cracks  of  their  log  houses.  Later  when  cows  had  increased, 
and  tallow  could  be  had,  tallow  candles  gave  them  a  better  light. 

Sometimes  a  few  families  would  unite  and  hire  a  tutor  to  teach 
the  children  in  the  home  of  a  family  which  had  a  spare  room.  In 
1 701  the  first  public  school  was  started  and  Robert  Poog  was 
hired  to  teach  at  a  salary  of  £2  per  month,  himself  and  horse 
to  be  kept. 

In  1708  there  was  a  school  at  Nayaug  or  South  Glastonbury 
and  in  1714  one  was  started  at  East  Farms.  This  was  a  "Dame 
School"  when  the  people  could  not  afford  to  hire  a  man.  It  is 
recorded  of  one  "dame"  that  she  taught  the  children  to  "read 
and  to  sew  and  to  go  home  without  lingering  by  the  brook." 

Children  from  six  to  twelve  years  of  age  were  expected,  not 
required,  to  go  to  school,  and  to  pay  one-half  the  tuition  —  the 
town  paid  the  other  half.  Boys  must  pay  whether  they  went 
to  school  or  not.  Parents  were  required  to  furnish  wood,  one  load 
for  each  scholar.  If  a  man  was  too  slow  about  bringing  wood, 
his  boys  had  to  sit  in  the  coldest  corner.  Even  after  a  public 
school  had  been  established,  it  was,  in  some  cases,  kept  in  a 
spare  room  of  a  private  house,  for  which  the  town  paid  rent. 

In  1792,  an  Academy  was  opened  on  the  Green  and  for  years 
was  a  flourishing  school,  but  unfortunately  fire  made  an  end  of  it. 

Later  an  Academy  was  opened  in  South  Glastonbury  in  a 
building  north  of  Mr.  Alfred  Pratt's  house.  Here  Noah  Webster 
of  dictionary  fame  taught  at  one  time,  and  Elihu  Burritt  at 
another.   fThis  building  was  burned  about   1825.  The  eastern 

*The  hill  on  the  east  side  of  Colchester  Avenue,  not  far  from  Glastonbury 
center,  was  covered  with  pine  trees  in  the  early  days  of  the  town's  history. 
There  the  first  settlers  went  to  gather  pine  knots  and  splinters  which  they 
used  for  candles  —  which  accounts  for  the  name. 

tAn  interesting  story  is  told  of  the  bell  which  hung  in  the  old  Academy  in 
South  Glastonbury.  In  those  days  many  small  ships  were  built  on  the  river 
banks  at  "Log  Landing,"  which  was  south  of  the  mouth  of  Roaring  Brook 
and  at  "Pratt's  Ferry,"  near  Naubuc.  They  were  schooners,  sloops  and  even 
brigs.  These  ships  made  voyages  to  the  West  Indies  carrying  lumber,  beef, 

30 


part  of  the  town  had  an  Academy  on  North  Street  for  some  years 
and  attracted  pupils  from  Bolton  and  Manchester. 

Sometimes  private  schools  were  taught  for  a  few  months  during 
the  winter  season.  For  several  years  an  excellent  school  was 
taught  by  Miss  Jennie  Pratt,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  High 
Streets,  in  South  Glastonbury. 

In  1869  an  Academy  was  built  in  Glastonbury  and  for  some 
years  tuition  was  charged.  Later  three  public-spirited  citizens, 
James  B.  Williams,*  William  S.  Williams  and  Mrs.  John  Welles, 
gave  some  thousands  of  dollars  to  endow  this  school  and  make 
it  free.  Later  it  was  accepted  by  the  town  and  became  a  part  of 
the  public  school  system.  A  few  years  since,  this  building  was 
moved  and  a  fine  brick  building  erected  for  the  use  of  the  High 
School. 

The  town  had  eighteen  school  districts  which  have  been  con- 
solidated and  are  under  town  management.  Besides  the  High 
School  there  are  twelve  schools  of  lower  grade,  only  two  of  the 
twelve  being  one  room  schools.  The  number  of  teachers  is  forty- 
four,  and  there  are  about  twelve  hundred  pupils. 

There  are  two  libraries  in  this  town;  one  in  Glastonbury, 
founded  about  1894,  and  one  in  South  Glastonbury,  started  in 
1927,  for  which  the  building  was  provided  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Harvey  Thompson. 


pork,  potatoes  and  onions.  A  Glastonbury  man  was  captain  of  a  ship  which 
had  made  such  a  voyage  and  was  returning.  Some  time  after  leaving  the 
island,  he  was  startled  to  hear  from  the  depths  of  his  ship  the  tolling  of  a 
strange  bell.  He  proceeded  to  inquire  into  the  matter  and  found  that  some  of 
his  unruly  crew  had  been  ashore  and  had  stolen  a  plantation  bell,  brought  it 
aboard  and  hidden  it  in  the  hold.  The  captain  could  not  well  turn  back  to 
return  the  bell  so  it  was  brought  home  and  given  to  the  Academy.  There, 
instead  of  calling  black  slaves  to  labor,  it  began  to  call  white  children  to  study. 
But  its  adventures  were  not  over.  One  day,  when  school  was  in  session  as 
usual,  a  boy  who  had  just  left  the  room  returned,  walked  quietly  to  his  seat 
and  sat  down;  but  soon  leaned  over  and  softly  whispered  something  to  his 
neighbor.  This  second  boy,  not  so  timid  as  the  first,  jumped  to  his  feet  and 
shouted,  "The  school  house  is  afire!"  Sure  enough,  it  was,  but  by  great  effort 
this  fire  was  extinguished.  At  a  later  date,  a  second  fire  in  the  night  com- 
pletely destroyed  the  building.  The  beautiful  sweet-toned  bell,  which  was  of 
Spanish  make  and  contained  considerable  silver,  fell  and  was  broken  to 
fragments.  The  people  gathered  up  the  pieces  and  stored  them  in  a  neighbor's 
attic,  hoping  that  sometime  they  might  be  recast.  Time  went  on  and  nothing 
was  done  about  it  until  it  was  nearly  forgotten.  Finally  a  house-wife,  who 
perhaps  had  not  heard  the  history  of  the  bell,  sold  the  metal  as  junk.  Then  the 
villagers  awoke  to  a  sense  of  their  carelessness  and  indignation  prevailed; 
but  it  was  too  late.  That  was  the  end  of  the  bell,  as  far  as  we  know. 

*The  fine  brick  building  near  the  High  School,  known  as  The  Williams  Me- 
morial Building,  was  given  by  the  heirs  of  James  B.  Williams  and  his  son, 
David  W.  Williams,  as  a  monument  to  those  two  generous  hearted  men.  It 
was  dedicated  in  December,  1914. 


31 


Manufacturing 

One  hundred  years  ago  most  of  the  streams  in  the  town  were 
busy  turning  the  wheels  of  one  or  more  little  shops  or  mills.  Some 
were  saw-mills,  some  carding-mills  or  clothiers'  shops,  and  in 
others  wooden-ware  of  different  kinds  was  made.  In  one  little  shop 
near  Wassuc  school  house  glass  was  made,  and  in  another,  guns 
were  made  and  repaired. 

On  North  Street,  the  Hurlburt  family  had  a  shop  where  felt 
hats  were  made  by  machiney  invented  by  one  of  the  family.  Felt 
hats  were  also  made  at  Nayaug  by  one  of  the  Hollister  family. 

As  time  went  on,  and  conditions  changed,  most  of  these  little 
shops  were  given  up,  while  some  of  the  clothing  shops  grew  into 
factories,  as  was  the  case  at  Addison  and  Hopewell. 

At  the  present  time  most  of  the  factories  are  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  town.  At  Addison,  on  Salmon  Brook,  "The  Glaston- 
bury Knitting  Company"  makes  the  best  of  men's  knit  under- 
wear. These  mills,  founded  about  1822,  were  called  the  Eagle 
Mills  and  made  woolen  goods.  They  now  employ  about  two 
hundred  fifty  people.  On  the  same  stream  is  a  paper  mill  owned  by 
Frank  Clark,  where  binders  board,  the  paper  used  in  making  the 
covers  of  books,  is  made.  At  Naubuc,  the  Williams  Brothers 
Manufacturing  Company  employ  about  one  hundred  seventy 
people  in  making  cutlery  and  silver-ware.  This  factory  was  started 
by  the  Curtis  family  about  1846,  and  the  little  settlement  which 
grew  up  around  it  was  long  known  as  Curtisville. 

South  of  this  factory  is  the  paper  mill  owned  by  A.  B.  Goodrich, 
where  binders  board  is  made.  East  of  Main  Street  and  near  the 
state  road.  The  J.  B.  Williams  Company  has  large  factories 
which  turn  out  quantities  of  shaving  and  toilet  soap,  and  a  variety 
of  other  toilet  articles.  The  two  brothers,  James  B.  and  William  S. 
Williams,  began  this  business  about  1850,  which  has  since  had 
such  a  remarkable  growth.  The  shaving  soap  made  here  is  known 
and  sold  over  nearly  all  of  the  civilized  world.  About  two  hundred 
people  are  kept  busy  here. 

East  of  this  factory  is  the  tannery  owned  by  Roser  and  Son, 
where  saddle  leather  is  made  from  pig-skins.  This  tannery  was 
operated  for  many  years  by  Edwin  Hubbard  and  Isaac  Broad- 
head,  and  is  said  to  be  the  only  one  in  the  United  States  which  is 
devoted  solely  to  the  tanning  of  pig-skins.  David  Hubbard 
operated  another  tannery  on  the  same  stream. 

In  East  Glastonbury,  on  Roaring  Brook,  is  a  woolen  factory, 
founded  about  1840  by  the  Roaring  Brook  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany and  managed  by  William  Sparks.  Later  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Edwin  Crosby  and  Sereno  Hubbard,  and  is  now  owned 
by  the  Angus  Park  Manufacturing  Company.  Heavy  woolen 
goods  are  made  and  about  one  hundr-ed  fifty  men  and  women  are 
employed. 

32 


About  two  miles  lower  down  on  this  stream  was  once  a  forge 
where  bar-iron  was  made  from  iron  ore.  This  iron  work  blackened 
both  the  workers  and  the  buildings;  and  the  little  hamlet  came  to 
be  called  "Smut."  This  name  has  clung  to  it  to  the  present  time. 
Later,  a  cotton  mill  was  built  there  and  cotton  sheeting  made  for 
many  years.  Later  still,  it  was  bought  by  J.  W.  Purtill  and 
operated  as  a  paper  mill  until  it  was  burned. 

A  mile  below  this  mill  was  another  forge  where  Jedediah  Post 
and  George  Pratt  made  anchors  for  many  years.  That  business 
was  abandoned  when  sailing  vessels  on  the  river  went  out  of  use. 

The  descendants  of  Thomas  Hollister,  called  the  "Weaver," 
who  died  in  1741,  carried  on  the  clothing  business  in  little  shops 
on  Roaring  Brook  in  Nayaug,  for  several  generations.  There  was 
the  clothiers'  shop,  the  dye  house,  the  fulling-mill  and  carding- 
mill.  These  shops  were  given  up  in  1836,  when  Horatio  Hollister, 
with  others,  built  the  mill  at  Hopewell  and  began  there  the  mak- 
ing of  woolen  goods  in  a  larger  way.  Hopewell  factory  is  now 
known  as  The  Glazier  Manufacturing  Company,  and  employs 
one  hundred  sixty-five  people. 

At  the  Nayaug  site,  L.  W.  Howe  now  has  a  mill  for  the  grinding 
of  feldspar,  which  is  used  in  the  glazing  of  bath  tubs,  sinks  and 
kitchen  utensils. 

At  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  powder  was  made  in  Cotton 
Hollow,  but  in  1777  the  mill  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  which 
killed  six  men,  four  from  one  family,  named  Stocking.  About 
1800,  a  brick  mill  was  built  there,  and  later  a  large  six  story  stone 
mill  and  a  massive  stone  dam  were  added  to  the  plant,  and  for 
many  years  quantities  of  cotton  sheeting  were  made.  For  some 
reason  the  business  failed  and  these  mills  also  were  turned  into 
paper  mills,  by  J.  W.  Purtill.  A  few  years  ago  the  brick  mill 
was  burned,  and  the  great  stone  mill  is  now  a  gaunt  ruin,  roofless, 
floorless,  and  windowless. 

It  may  be  news  to  the  young  people  of  this  age  that  in  former 
times  many  ships  were  built  on  the  river  banks  in  this  town.  Not 
large  ships  nor  steamships,  but  sailing  vessels,  such  as  sloops, 
brigs,  and  schooners.  At  Pratt's  Ferry,  near  Naubuc,  was  a  ship- 
yard where  the  Welleses,  Sellews  and  Gaineses  built  such  ships 
for  river  and  coasting  trade.  The  site  of  that  old  ship-yard  is  now 
at  the  bottom  of  the  river. 

*At  Log-Landing,  in  Nayaug,  was  another  ship-yard  where  the 

*Captain  Roswell  Hollister  built  for  his  son,  Elijah,  a  fine  brig,  designed  to 
be  a  model  boat,  and  a  swift  sailer.  In  this  fine  new  boat  named  Nestor, the. 
young  man  as  captain  sailed  away  for  the  sunny  south.  That  brig  sailed  out 
of  the  river  and  was  never  seen  afterwards. 

Months  later  the  wreckage  of  a  ship  was  picked  up  on  the  coast  of  a  southern 
state,  and  one  of  the  pieces  bore  the  name  Nestor.  All  on  board  had  perished 
in  the  wreck. 

A  large  copper  spike  saved  from  that  wreckage  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Fred  Pratt,  a  great-grandson  of  the  builder. 

The  writer  remembers  hearing  an  old  resident  say  that,  when  a  small  boy, 

33       . 


Welleses  and  Hollisters  carried  on  that  business.  It  is  said  that 
Captain  Roswell  Hollister  during  his  long  life,  1763-1842,  built 
there  "one  hundred  sail  of  vessels."  The  last  built  there  was  a 
barge  built  by  Deacon  Martin  Hollister  in  1870. 

These  ships  made  voyages  to  our  southern  cities  or  to  the  West 
Indies,  carrying  lumber,  beef,  pork,  potatoes,  onions  and  other 
products  of  New  England;  and  bringing  back  sugar,  molasses, 
rum,  and  various  products  of  warm  climates. 

A  white-sailed  sloop,  slowly  taking  up  or  down  the  river,  and 
looking  sometimes  as  if  sailing  on  the  green  meadows,  was  a 
beautiful  sight,  no  longer  seen. 

At  the  present  time,  1927,  agriculture  and  manufacturing  are 
the  leading  industries.  Much  tobacco  is  raised,  also  hay  and  fruits 
—  apples,  peaches  and  berries.  Italian-Americans  have  been 
quite  successful  as  fruit  growers.  Dairying  is  carried  on,  but  not 
on  a  large  scale. 

^Quarrying  of  granite  is  practised  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
town.  Welles  Strickland  operates  a  quarry  in  Buckingham,  em- 
ploying about  fifteen  men.  The  stone  is  marketed  in  Hartford, 
where  it  is  used  for  building  and  street  curbing.  Feldspar  is 
quarried  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town.  There  is  now  no  ship- 
building nor  lumbering  in  town,  and  very  little  shad-fishing, 
which  was  once  a  profitable  business. 

The  town  is  reached  from  Hartford  by  an  electric  road,  and 
during  1928,  the  Main  Street  is  to  be  paved  with  concrete. 


Government 

We  all  know  that  our  country  is  not  a  monarchy,  governed  by 
a  king  or  a  queen;  our  government  is  a  democracy,  which  means 
that  the  people  govern  themselves.  Abraham  Lincoln  called  it  a 
"government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people." 

The  town  is  a  little  democracy,  the  state  a  larger  one,  and  the 
United  States  a  very  great  one.  Once  a  year,  in  October,  and  some- 
times oftener,  the  people  of  the  town  come  together  in  a  town 
meeting  to  choose  their  officers,  and  attend  to  other  matters  which 
concern  them.  Every  man  and  woman  who  is  twenty-one  or  over, 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  legal  resident  of  the  town, 
can  obtain  the  privilege  of  voting  in  this  meeting. 

The  principal  officers  chosen  are,  three  Selectmen,  a  Town 
Clerk,  a  Treasurer,  (the  last  two    are    chosen    for    two    years) 

living  in  the  Captain's  family,  he  had  seen  on  the  floor  of  the  parlor  a  pile 
of  ten  thousand  Mexican  silver  dollars,  the  price  received  for  a  schooner  sold 
in  the  south  —  all  that  "Black  Ross"  could  bring  in  a  wheelbarrow  from  Log- 
Landing.  The  house  mentioned  was  the  old  Hollister  house  now  owned  by 
James  B.  Kellam,  and  Log-Landing  was  reached  by  the  lane  beyond  his 
garden. 

*The  stone  from  which  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum  was  built  was  quarried  in 
Buckingham  from  a  small  quarry  not  far  from  the  church. 

34 


a  Collector,  several  Assessors  and  a  Town  School  Committee. 

The  Selectmen  attend  to  the  work  needed  to  be  done  for  the 
town,  such  as  repairing  roads,  building  bridges,  taking  care  of  the 
poor,  and  many  other  things.  The  Assessors  prepare  the  tax  lists, 
the  Collector  receives  the  taxes  and  passes  them  over  to  the 
Treasurer,  whose  business  it  is  to  take  care  of  the  money  and  out 
of  it  pay  the  town's  expenses,  when  authorized  to  do  so. 

The  Town  Clerk  keeps  the  record  of  births,  deaths  and  mar- 
riages; makes  out  licenses  of  many  kinds,  records  deeds  when 
land  or  houses  are  sold.  All  these  things  are  written  down  in 
great  books  and  kept  in  a  fire-proof  vault.  You  will  see  that  the 
Town  Clerk  is  an  important  officer,  and  a  busy  one. 

The  Town  School  Committee  had  control  of  the  schools  of  the 
town,  and,  to  help  in  that  work  employs  a  Superintendent,  whose 
business  it  is  to  hire  teachers,  and  have  the  oversight  of  all  schools 
in  the  town. 

Glastonbury  had  its  first  post  office  in  1806  in  Welles'  Tavern, 
now  the  home  of  Mr.  Robert  Chapman.  The  postmaster  was 
Joseph  Welles.  South  Glastonbury  was  happy  to  have  one  in  1825. 
It  was  kept  in  Squire  Merrick's  office,  which  stood  where  the  High 
Street  School  now  stands. 

Some  years  ago  there  were  seven  post  offices  in  town,  but  three 
of  them  have  been  closed,  Hopewell,  Naubuc  and  Buckingham, 
leaving  four  at  present  —  Glastonbury,  South  Glastonbury, 
East  Glastonbury  and  Addison.  Rural  carriers  now  deliver  the 
mail  in  those  sections. 

Before  there  was  a  post  office  in  town,  papers  and  letters  were 
brought  from  the  Hartford  office  once  or  twice  a  week  by  a  post- 
rider.  Father  Stocking,  founder  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  East 
Glastonbury,  was,  in  early  life,  the  post-rider  from  Hartford  to 
Say  brook,  for  twenty-five  years;  and  during  that  time  travelled 
one  hundred  fifty  thousand  miles  and  crossed  the  Connecticut 
River  eight  thousand,  five  hundred  times. 

In  those  days  postage  was  m.uch  higher  than  now  and  letters 
were  very  few.  Newspapers  were  published  only  once  a  week. 

Glastonbury  has  an  area  of  35,116  acres. 

In  1920  its  population  was  5,592. 

In  1924,  the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
sixteen  was  1,500. 


Slavery 

Young  and  old  of  the  present  day  may  find  it  hard  to  believe 
that  in  our  good  town,  negro  men  and  women  were  once  held  as 
slaves.*  It  came  about  in  this  way.  In  the  early  days  there  was 
much  work  to  do  and  few  could  be  hired  as  servants.  The  settlers 

*Foot  note  on  next  page. 

35 


tried  Indian  servants,  but  they  loved  the  freedom  of  the  woods  too 
well  to  be  good  helpers  in  gardens  or  kitchens. 

Young  men,  in  England,  who  wanted  to  come  to  America 
would  sometimes  sell  themselves  for  a  certain  number  of  years, 
in  order  to  pay  for  their  passage  across  the  sea.  These  were  called 
"bond  servants,"  but  there  were  not  enough  of  them  and  they 
freed  themselves  as  soon  as  possible.  The  planters  then  found 
that  they  could  get  negroes  (who  made  good  servants)  from  the 
West  Indies.  They  were  generally  well  treated  and  lived  in  the 
same  house  with  the  whites.  In  the  old  first  church,  one  corner, 
raised  a  little  above  the  rest  of  the  floor,  was  set  apart  for  slaves. 
It  is  probable  that  only  the  well-to-do  families  had  these  colored 
slaves. 

t After  a  time  people  began  to  think  it  was  wrong  to  buy  or  sell 
human  beings,  and  they  were  gradually  made  free.  In  1840, 
there  were  only  seventeen  slaves  in  the  state,  and  in  1848,  the  law 
set  them  free. 


Witchcraft 

We  are  proud  that  our  town  never  had  any  witchcraft  trials; 
but  since  in  the  early  days  nearly  everybody  believed  in  witch- 
craft, it  is  not  surprising  that  our  ancestors,  while  living  in 
Wethersfield,  took  part  in  two  such  trials.  About  1660,  Mary 
Johnson  was  accused  of  being  a  witch,  that  is,  of  being  in  partner- 
ship with  the  Evil  One,  and  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped. 

In  1670,  Katherine  Harrison  was  accused  (perhaps  because 
she  knew  more  than  some  of  her  neighbors).  She  was  tried  and 
convicted,  but  the  General  Court  refused  to  have  her  hung.  They 
told  her  that  for  the  sake  of  peace  she  had  better  move  out  of 
Wethersfield,  which  she  did. 

When  our  ancestors  were  living  in  England,  nearly  every  one, 
even  ministers  and  judges,  believed  in  witchcraft,  and  they  knew 
that  many  men  and  women  were  hung  because  they  were  believed 
to  be  witches.  "What  was  witchcraft?"  you  may  ask.  It  is  not 
easy  to  explain,  but  it  seems  that  many  people  believed  that  a 
person  could  make  a  contract  with  Satan,  and  by  his  help  could 


*To  the  honor  of  Glastonbury  women  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  first' 
anti-slavery  petition  ever  sent  to  Congress  was  written  by  Mrs.  Hannah  Smith 
and  signed  by  forty  women  of  Glastonbury,  including  herself  and  her  five 
daughters.  It  was  presented  to  Congress  by  ex-president  John  Quincy  Adams. 

fFreed  slaves  and  other  free  negroes  built  themselves  little  cabins  all  along 
the  road  over  Chestnut  Hill,  which  thus  acquired  the  name  of  "Nigger  Lane." 
At  one  time  there  were  as  many  as  sixty  such  cabins,  the  cellars  of  which 
can  still  be  seen  in  some  places,  but  the  inhabitants  have  removed  or  died 
long  since. 

The  colored  people  now  in  town  are  later  comers  from  the  southern  states. 

36 


fly  through  the  air  unseen,  and  could  hurt  and  torment  another 
without  going  near  him.  If  a  child  or  an  animal  was  suddenly 
taken  sick,  they  would  say  it  was  the  work  of  witches.  Almost 
anything  they  could  not  understand  was  laid  to  witchcraft.  The 
people  who  were  accused  of  being  witches  were  usually  friendless 
old  women,  who  could  not  defend  themselves,  and  were  frightened 
into  saying  that  perhaps  they  were  witches;  and  so  were  whipped 
or  hung.  People  laugh  at  such  beliefs  now,  because  we  have  be- 
come more  enlightened,  but  it  was  pretty  serious  three  hundred 
years  ago. 


Famous  People 

On  the  list  of  people  of  this  town  who  have  become  famous,  the 
Honorable  Gideon  Welles*  stands  at  the  head.  He  was  born  in 
Glastonbury,  but  was  living  in  Hartford  and  editing  the  Times 
when  Abraham  Lincoln  called  him  to  his  cabinet  as  Secretary  of 
the  Navy.  He  filled  that  office  very  successfully  through  the  Civil 
War  and  was  a  close  friend  of  the  great  president. 

Honorable  John  R.  Buck,  a  native  of  East  Glastonbury,  was  a 
member  of  Congress  in  1881  and  1885.  Honorable  Sidney  Dean 
was  a  native  of  Glastonbury  and  spent  his  early  life  here  but  was 
sent  to  Congress  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  where  he  was 
then  living,  in  1853  and  1857. 

Julia  Smith  and  her  sister  became  famous  in  the  days  when 
woman  suffrage  was  a  burning  question.  Their  story  is  too  long 
to  be  told  here.  As  they  were  not  allowed  to  vote,  they  refused  to 
pay  taxes.  Their  speeches  and  writings  helped  to  hasten  the  time 
when  women  were  allowed  to  vote.  After  Julia  Smith  had  reached 
the  age  of  fifty  years,  she  taught  herself  Greek  and  Hebrew  and 
translated  the  entire  Bible  into  the  English  language. 

The  Honorable  Eleazer  Kimberly,  the  first  representative  to 
the  General  Court,  the  first  Town  Clerk,  also  Secretary  for  the 
Colony,  perhaps  should  have  stood  first  on  the  list. 

J.  H.  Hale  should  be  remembered  as  the  man  who  proved  that 
peaches  could  be  raised  in  this  town  in  a  large  way.  He  was  the 
first  to  plant  large  orchards  of  peaches  and  later  of  apples.  He 
also  had  very  large  orchards  in  Georgia.  As  a  lecturer  and  writer 
on  fruit  growing,  he  was  popular,  and  made  the  name  of  his 
native  town  familiar  to  thousands.  He,  with  other  public  spirited 
men  of  the  town,  planned  and  carried  out  the  beautiful  exhibition 
of  Glastonbury  products,  on  the  Green,  in  October,  1913.  The 
Town    Hall    was    filled    with    specimens    of   antique    furniture, 

*0n  May  2,  1782,  Samuel  Welles,  Jr.,  father  of  the  Honorable  Gideon  Welles, 
was  married  to  Ann  Hale,  daughter  of  Gideon  Hale.  The  first  carriage  ever 
owned  in  town  was  used  to  carry  the  bridal  couple  from  the  Hale  home  to 
the  Welles  home,  and  was  escorted  by  sixty  couples  on  horseback,  each  horse 
carrying  two. 

37 


ancient  household  articles,  and  needlework  and  art  exhibits.  One 
tent  was  filled  with  an  exhibit  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  and 
another  with  the  products  of  the  various  factories.  Perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  was  the  folk  dancing  of  the  school  children. 
This  celebration  has  gone  into  history  as  "Glastonbury  Day." 

The  large  orchards  planted  by  Mr.  Hale  and  his  brother  are 
now  managed  by  the  present  members  of  his  family. 


Recreations 

*In  this  little  book  the  writer  has  had  much  to  say  of  the 
dangers  and  hardships  of  the  early  days  of  our  town;  but  one 
must  not  think  that  life  in  those  times  was  always  hard  and 
gloomy.  There  was  much  work,  but  it  was  not  "all  work  and  no 
play."  There  were  some  bright  spots,  especially  after  fear  of  the 
Indians  had  been  removed.  Children  had  their  sports  and  games 
as  now.  They  played  "London  Bridge,"  "Ring  around  Rosy," 
and  "Prisoner's  Base,"  as  children  do  now,  and  as  their  grand- 
mothers did  in  the  English  lanes  long  years  before. 

The  older  people,  too,  had  their  merrymakings  along  with  their 
work.  They  were  very  neighborly,  and  if  one  had  a  heavy  job  of 
work,  the  neighbors  made  a  "bee,"  all  coming  together  and  giving 
their  help.  Plenty  to  eat  and  drink  was  provided,  and  enjoyed 
when  the  work  was  done.  Raising  the  frame  of  a  house  or  barn 
always  called  for  such  a  "bee."  Husking  corn  or  paring  apples  for 
drying  often  were  made  the  occasion  for  a  "bee,"  ending  in  a 
merry  frolic. 

*The  old  oak  tree,  which  stood  near  the  home  of  Mr.  Harry  Miller  and  which 
has  lately  been  removed  by  order  of  the  Highway  Commission,  was  formerly 
used  as  a  whipping-post  —  according  to  tradition.  Mrs.  Miller  has  found  by 
counting  the  rings,  that  the  tree  was  about  two  hundred  years  old.  There  are 
now  but  few  of  the  primeval  oaks  still  standing  —  one  in  the  Hale  district, 
which  was  called  a  "great  oak"in  the  original  survey  of  "The  Country  Road" 
—  another  in  Nayaug  near  the  corner  of  Tryon  Street  and  Pease  Lane,  and 
a  third  in  Wassuc  opposite  the  home  of  Mrs.  Mary  Brainard.  It  is  a  tradition 
that  under  this  tree  Washington  once  rested  while  on  a  journey  from  Hartford 
to  New  London. 

The  last  public  whipping  was  done  about  1840  at  a  tree  on  the  Hopewell 
road,  east  of  St.  Augustine's  church  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  The  offense 
was  chicken  stealing  on  a  liberal  scale.  Mr.  Samuel  Hollister,  the  officer  who 
wielded  the  lash,  is  known  to  have  had  a  kind  heart,  so  probably  the  victim 
was  not  damaged  beyond  repair. 

The  stocks  were  also  used  in  most  towns,  and  probably  in  Glastonbury. 
Little  can  be  learned  of  these  semi-barbarous  instruments  of  torture,  as  later 
generations  have  not  been  proud  of  the  record. 


38 


Important  Events  —  Review 

1633  First  white  men  visited  Pyquag  or  Wethersfield. 

1634  Several  families  arrived  from  Watertown,  Massachusetts. 

1635  Larger  number  arrived  from  Watertown. 

1 636  Bought  land  of  Indian  Chief  Sequin-Sowheag. 

1636  With  men  from  Hartford  and  Windsor  formed  the  General 
Court. 

1637  Indian  Massacre  in  Wethersfield  meadow. 
1639-1640     Survey  of  lands  on  East  Side. 
1641-1650     Settlers'  building  houses  on  East  Side. 
1653     Separate  Military  Company  formed. 

1673     Purchase  of  five-mile  tract  east  of  three-mile  farms. 
1676     Country  Road  or  Main  Street  laid  out. 
1689     Petitioned  General  Court  to  be  made  a  separate  town. 
Granted  in  1690  on  conditions  completed  in  1693. 

1692  First  Town  Meeting  held. 

1693  First    Church    completed    and    Rev.    Timothy    Stevens 

installed  as  minister. 
1701     First  public  school  opened. 
1708     First  school  in  Nayaug  —  South  Glastonbury. 
1714     School  at  East  Farms. 
1736     Church  built  at  East  Farms  —  Eastbury. 
1775-1783     War  of  Revolution. 
1806     First  Post  Office  in  Glastonbury. 
1 839-1 840     Town  Hall  built. 
1853     Celebration  of  second  centennial. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

In  preparing  this  little  book,  the  writer  has  made  use  of: 
Stiles'  "History  of  Wethersfield" 
Chapin's  "Glastenbury  Centennial" 

W.  S.  Goslee's  paper  in  the  "Memorial  History  of  Hartford  County" 
Hollister's  "History  of  Connecticut" 
Clark's  "History  of  Connecticut" 
Mrs.  Earle's  "Customs  and  Fashions  of  Old  New  England" 


39 


The  Club  wishes  to  acknowledge  its  indebtedness 
to  all  those  who  have  contributed  so  generously  of 
time  and  material  to  make  this  book  a  success. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


